The Memory Slips
by bingowildshadow
Summary: Clara, a mutant who's both strong, smart, and beginning to rise in the fear of the enemy. The only one able to subdue her actions, the man she once loved, once hurt her, and then ran out on her, Logan. Unfortunatly, he can't remember anything about her.
1. Prolouge

**Prolouge**

"Oh, sweetie, it'll be okay," he said, trying to calm his girlfriend. "Your dad said he'd be careful."

"Your not scared? At all?" she asked, pulling away from his embrace to look him in the eyes.

He thought for a moment about what he should tell her. Of course he was scared, he was terrified, but he didn't want to scare her. His eyes softened as he made eye contact, "I'll be fine, I promise. If I do this then maybe your dad will accept me, your brother has finally gotten nicer."

"I know, but I'm still scared." She leaned tight into him again.

"Alright Logan, let's go," Clara's dad called from inside his experimental labratory.

"It'll be fine, Clara. My sweet Clara." Logan leaned in and kissed her. Lightly at first, but then pulled her closer and kissed her harder.

"Logan!" Clara's dad called again.

Logan pulled away, and looked at her caringly once more before stepping through the door. Clara followed after, hesitantly, and sat in the corner of the small room.

Clara's dad, Willaim Stryker, instructed the boy to remove his shirt and get into the tub of green liquid. Logan shivered a bit as the cold of the substance shot up his legs, but got in and laid down, placing his head on the built in headset. Clara wathed nervously. She knew how it was supposed to work.

She knew Logan was a type of mutant who's body would heal itself from merely every wound. The thought of a mutant wasn't new to her; her brother was able to project images or hallucinations into other's minds. She, herself, was also a mutant. She had the ability to turn into animals, all of which were black with lightening bolt streaks down the sides. She didn't feel scared for her boyfriend for this reason, she was scared because her dad hated mutants.

Her dad took a thin needle and injected it into the boy's shoulder and another into his upper thigh. He then walked behind a podium which Clara took to be some sort of control panel. He pushed a button, and Clara saw a silvery, thick liquid run down the tubes. As Logan closed his eyes in preparation, the liquid went through his skin, and into his bloodstream.

Within a minute, burns began working their way from the inside of him out to his skin. Logan began screaming out in pain. "Stop! Father, stop!" Clara yelled, running forward to the side of the tub and looked down at the screaming man. She turned back to her father to see him push another button which made the silver liquid flow faster. "No!" she looked around and saw her brother, Jason. While he was in his newly acquired wheel shair, he was concentrating, hard.

She looked back at Logan. His screams came to a halt, he was gazing right next to her head. "L-Logan..." His face was angry, Clara saw his hand raise. His hands which now had three, five-inch, steak knife-like claws on each hand. He didn't see to know they were there. His hand came down on the air beside her, the claws through were a different story.

Clara fell back on the ground, clutching the whole left side of her face. Logan began screaming again. Clara looked around and found a sharp, metal instrument. She grabbed it and swung it over her head as she lunged at the podium. Bringing it down, she stabbed the metal into the controls. Again, she was sent to the ground, her hands now burned black, and her face still freely bleeding.

Logan couldn't take the burning anymore. He stood up and ripped the needles from his body. He screamed louder once he saw his claws, and then Clara...his Clara, on the ground dangerously hurt, from his claws.

He couldn't stand it. Still screaming, he ran out. Out on the experiment, out on the life he had. He ran out on Clara. The saddest part was, the next day, he wouldn't remember any of his past...


	2. Eight Years Later

**Chapter 1: Eight years later**

She looked up at the roof to see the cardboard collapsing from the rain, tiny droplets still dripping onto her back. Standing, she shook the water from her black coat. Farther down the alley, she saw the same group of stray dogs that she always saw. As they heard her get up, they looked up for just a second, then went back to eating from the garbage cans, though more wearily now. They knew not to mess with the black wolf.

She stretched her powerful muscles before trotting out onto the still dark street. Keeping close to the shadows, she could hardly be seen as she ran. Stopping at the wall of a hotel , she squeezed in the building from a hole in the wall. "Well, well, the wolf's back." A booming voice came from his place behind the desk. "What are you doing here girlie? Do you need some more food?"

The wolf trotted over to him and sat down, letting him pat her between the ears. "Well, let me see what I can scrounge up for ya." He walked into a back room and soon came back with half a sandwich. "Sorry girl, that's all the cook had ready this morning." He gave it to the wolf, and she gobbled it up quickly. "Now off you go, customers will be coming soon. Can't have you here in the lobby when that happens." He didn't have to say more, the she-wolf walked back through the hole, and back on the streets.

"Mommy, a doggie!" she heard a little boy call as she walked passed him, forgetting to stay in the shadows.

"Leave it alone Nicky, it looks disgusting." The wolf let it go, and continued on until it reached a puddle on the side of the road, and began to lap it up, quickly.

"Lookie here, we've finally found her." The wolf turned around, expecting the dog catchers again. She was surprised to see three people, one man, and two women. One of the women was short, with short white hair and brown eyes. The other had long reddish brown hair with green eyes. The man wore sunglasses, so the wolf couldn't see his eyes, but he had really short brown hair, and was quite tall. "Grab her Storm," the man said to the white haired girl.

Suddenly, a rope was around the wolf's neck. Both angry and shocked, she jumped at the three of them, biting down on whoever's limbs went into her mouth first. It turned out to be the man. "Ouch!" he yelled as the wolf was able to run, even with a loose rope on her neck. "Jean," the man ordered the other woman.

Before she could turn the corner, the red-head waved her hand, and the wolf was frozen in mid stride. The three walked over to her and looked at her, "Clara, it's about time. You should have come to the meeting." Jean said, almost too sweetly.

Clara snarled the best she could, though her lips weren't able to move, so the sound was muffled. "Let's go Storm, we need to get back to the school in an hour. This meeting won't be missing anybody." The man said, he wasn't even trying to be nice. He was angry at being bit by the girl. "You don't need to stay a wolf you know."

Jean let the dog go to see her turn into a girl who was just taller than Storm. She had expected Clara to have black hair, but instead she had medium length brown hair and a color of deep blue in her eyes. "Let's go," Storm said, leading the way back to where they had landed the secret plane.

"Your name is?" she asked the man as she sat in the back of the plane, literally tied to a chair.

"Later," he said harshly, keeping his eyes on the plane.

"No," Clara turned into a snake, making the ties fall to the floor. She slithered quickly up the dashboard and in front of the man's face so he couldn't see anything, "Tell me now."

"Clara!" They all shouted in unison as the plane started to descend.

"All I want is a name."

"Fine, Scott, you can call me Cyclopes if you want, now move!" he grabbed her around the neck and threw her out of the way. Grabbing the controls, he quickly fixed the plane's flight pattern, as Storm and Jean gave the stranger angry glares.

"I knew that actually, I just wanted to see if you'd answer me," she said again, sitting in a seat right behind them. "So, where are we going?"

Storm wanted to shout at her to shut up, but decided they needed to stay on course. "There's a school for people like us, we're going there?"

"People like us? You make it sound like we _need_ to be separated." Clara laughed, "We're mutants, but we don't need to be separated."

"There are many who believe otherwise." Jean said, "Now please, no more talking. There'll be time for question and answers later." For the rest of the ride, they all stayed completely silent.

Upon arriving, Clara was again tied to one of the chairs, but she didn't care much. She could get out if she wanted to. Once the plane landed and the doors were open, that's exactly what she did. The girls turned quickly as a black, furry creature shot out the door.

"Stop her!" they yelled in unison to everybody outside the plane. A man turned around and grabbed her by the back of the neck, and before Clara could turn and bite him, his body turned into solid steel.

"What's going on?" He asked, turning to the others getting out of the plane.

"That's Clara, the one we've been after for months."

"It sure makes me feel good knowing I can keep out of the way easily. Wouldn't that just make you feel great too, Colossus, or do you prefer to be called Piotr?" Clara asked, seeing as they weren't going to let her free again.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, a little frightened by her.

"I know everyone's name who is here, well...minus 10 or so." Clara answered as she was given to the hands of Scott. "Fine...fine, I'll go." She turned human and walked ahead of the three into the school.

"This way," Scott pointed to a large brass door on the right. Clara opened the door and stepped in.

"Well hello Charles, how are things here?" She asked, being mockingly polite.

"Sit down, please," Jean sighed, practically shoving her into a chair, then sitting on her right. Storm sat on her left, and Cyclopes sat across from her. "She's been giving us trouble professor."

"I'm sure she has," he said, raising his eyebrow at her.

"I would appreciate it, _professor,_ if my thoughts remained my own, and you stayed OUT OF MY HEAD!" she knocked the pitcher of water over that was in the middle of the table.

"My mistake," he said, withdrawing himself from her mind, but thinking constantly.

"Where is he professor?" Scott asked, obviously anxious to get this over with.

"He should be coming in just...about...now." Just as he said it, the door opened.

Clara turned, and then froze. There, standing in the doorway..."Logan," she said, in barely a whisper.

"Who's the new girl?" he asked, rudely.

Clara was taken aback, and almost made an angry retort, but just then Storm decided to talk for her. "This is Clara, you know, the one we've been looking to capture for almost a whole year."

"Oh yeah, the freak that turns into animals. I remember, how did you know my name?" He asked, sitting down and taking a drink from his soda that he had brought in with him.

"I know all your names...Wolverine, hmmm...that's a weird nickname. How did you get it?" she asked, testing him.

Suddenly, three claws came down, slicing across the table. Clara jumped back, snarling, the chair went flying to the ground. "Because of these I'm assuming," he said, though eyed her wearily.

"Put those destroyers away!" She yelled at him.

"What? You seem to know what they can do," he replied, pulling them back, but searching her face for any sign that he had seen her before.

"Yes, I've seen them, but obviously you don't remember that, or anything else I'm guessing," she said, righting the chair and sitting back down.

"I would think a person such as you would have been easy to remember. I tend to remember all people who are more annoying than ol' one eyed Scott over there."

"Logan," the boy warned.

"Alright, alright, everybody stop, and let's get down to what we're going to do about this Stryker guy," Xavier said, putting some folders down on the table with pictures in them of Stryker and his gang.

Clara swallowed hard, and looked away. "I will have nothing to do with this man."

"Why, you scared?" Logan asked, sitting back in his chair. "Don't worry little pussy cat, I'll protect ya...maybe."

"I'm not scared of him, and I'm not scared of you either," Clara snapped in reply.

"Clara, over these past few years you've been selling secrets of every side there is in this war to anybody who wants them. We need you on our side now," the professor said, then looked to his colleagues for input.

Storm and Jean looked at each other, then back to the new girl, "We're willing to be kind to you if you'll help us." Scott merely nodded, while Logan rolled his eyes.

Clara saw the eyes rolling in the man's head. "You don't want me here? Good, then I guess I will stay and help you...for now." With that, she got up and stomped out of the room, closely followed by the only person who could make this any worse.

"I don't know what, but you know something about my past, don't you?" Logan asked, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around.

"You bet I do, bastard," she snarled the last part at him.

"What do you know?" he asked, ignoring the name calling for the time being.

"Like I would tell you," she sidestepped to get around him, but he stayed in front of her. "If you don't move, I will hurt you."

"I can handle it. Tell me what you know, I've been trying to figure it out for eight years now."

Clara looked at him, and remembered the way he had looked at her before the horrible experiment...then she remembered how he looked at her as he hit her. "If you want to know, really want to know, you're going to have to show me you want it better than that." Finally he let her past and she stomped off to her room, trying to figure out what she'd do next. "_He obviously doesn't remember. He doesn't know how he hit me, he doesn't know how he ran out on me, and he doesn't even remember me..."_


	3. Dreams Can Solve ProblemsSometimes

**Chapter 2: Dreams Can Solve Problems...Sometimes**

There she was, hiding between the trees. "Hey wait!" The boy called, annoyed. All night they had been outside, and now it was raining. She just wouldn't stop running around. Her clothes were soaked, and yet she was spinning wildly around on the fields. "Who are you?" He called, yet again.

"Don't you remember me?" A voice began, it sounded like a sweet voice, he just didn't know who it was coming from. "Oh, my darling Logan, don't you remember?"

"I can't say I do. If I could only see your face, maybe that would help me!" he chased after her, curiously. He desperately wanted to know who this was, if she was part of his past, he might be able to find her and ask her some questions.

"My face?" She turned to face him and tilted her head.

There was nothing on her face, no nose, no mouth, no eyes. There wasn't even any hair on her head. "Who are you?"

"That's exactly what I'm asking you Logan, who am I?"

Clara hadn't slept well that night either. When she finally awoke, there were dark circles under her eyes, and her muscles yet ached all over. She threw off her covers and went into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she saw that some of the make-up on her cheek was rubbing off. Quickly she reached into the cupboard and found nothing. She hadn't been carrying anything when they picked her up. Panicking slightly, she got dressed and ran of her bedroom and made it halfway down the hall.

"Where are you going?" someone grabbed her and turned her around. Logan stood, pinning her to the wall. "You aren't allowed to leave here."

"I'm going to the store, I have something I need to pick up," she glared at him as she shoved him off. "I'll be back."

"Cyclops boy won't like it if you run off around town alone."

"Who gives a crap about his thoughts?" she snapped and continued on along the hallway.

"I like your attitude. Still though, you might want to bring one of them with you."

"No thank you, I'll survive, I'm sure of it," she said, really getting annoyed now.

"Fine, I'll come with ya then," he caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder again. Pinning her to the wall once more, he added, "If you run off, I'll have to hurt ya, nothin' personal, but, well you know how it goes...hostages and all," he said, teasing her.

"I'm no hostage here, I could leave here if I wanted to." This time instead of shoving him off, she turned into a wolf and bit down on his arm, making it bleed.

"Ouch, that hurt!" he looked at his arm as it dripped some blood, and then healed itself.

"If you want to come, fine, just hurry up."

"I'll drive," he called, grabbing a set of keys out of his pocket.

"No you won't, since we're driving Scott's car, I'll drive. I owe him for tying me up yesterday." Before he could refuse, she snatched them from his hand and walked to the nearest car, a really nice black sports car.

She got in the driver's seat, and buckled before Logan could get in. As soon as he was seated, she hit the gas pedal and drove off quickly.

"So, how did you know it was Scott's car?"

"You don't have a car, or a motorcycle, or any means of your own transportation," she snapped, as she arrived in the parking lot.

"And you know that...how?" he asked.

"I know things," she answered, then disappeared in the store before any more questions could be asked. Inside she found the make-up she needed, and then she dug around in her pockets for money...there wasn't any.

"Do you really need it? Your scar or whatever isn't that bad," Logan said behind her, startling her.

Before she could stop her self, she threw the nearest hard thing at him, hitting him square in the chest. "You have no idea." Looking back at the bottle, she thought to herself. _Well, it's pretty small, I could probably sneak it out of here._ She looked around at the store and saw no one that could see her. Stuffing it into her pocket, she slipped out the door and into the car, again speeding off before Logan was ready for it.

"So how did you get the scar?" Logan asked, glancing at it every once in a while. "It doesn't look that bad."

"You haven't seen the whole scar," she replied as they pulled back into the school and sighed as Scott walked up to the driver's window.

"Where have you been, Clara? Logan, we ordered for her not to be let out, and you took my car, and let her drive it."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on would yeah. We came right back," Clara slipped away and Logan to answer all of the questions.

Finally returning to her own bathroom, she looked in the mirror as she washed the old make-up off. Where once was a smooth appearance, was now three long scars running from the tip of her eyebrow, to below her chin. As always, once she saw the scars, the scene flashed before her once more. The hatred in his eyes, the muscles tensing, the blades, and finally, the pain. "Oh Clara dear, what have you done? What will you do? He doesn't remember a single thing, and unfortunately, you do," sighing, she added the makeup back on so it didn't show.


	4. Bullies Seem to be Numerous

**Chapter 3: Bullies Seem to be Numerous**

Her stomach rumbled as she returned to her bedroom. "Hmm..." she went wondering down the halls, waiting for a whiff of food to hit her nose.

"It's in here," said a boy next to her. She turned to look at him, his hair was pretty short, and spiked in the front. She could smell remnants of hair gel being used on it before. His eyes were a greenish-blue color, and he wasn't very tall.

Clara followed him into where there was a tiny kitchen, obviously not used by most of the student body. There were a couple others there though, sitting on stools at a counter in the middle of the room. "Hey," the two others said. The boy was taller than his friend, his hair all stood straight up due to the help of the gel he had lathered all over it, and his eyes were an ice-blue, making his whole head look like it was a slight degree away from freezing over. The girl's brown eyes were brought out by her black hair, and two wide white streaks that framed her face.

"Bobby, Marie, and John, thank you for showing me where the kitchen was," All three of them stared at her, unable to find the words to ask. "What? Would you rather me call you by your nicknames?"

"Um...if you want to, I'm Ice..."

"Yeah, yeah, Iceman, Rogue and Pyro. I know, I hate having to go through introductions though, don't you? Way to much time is taken out of the day." Clara said, searching the refrigerator until she finally decided to just make herself a sandwich.

"There's soda in the cabinet over there," Rogue said nicely.

"Thank you," Clara grabbed the closest bottle, and frowned at how warm it was.

"Want some help with that?" Bobby asked. Clara handed it to him, and he simply blew on the top, making it ice cold.

"Thank you ice boy." Clara said, not able to bring the word man to her lips when she was talking to people so young. "So, now is that Cyclopes always that rude, or was he just being friendly?"

"He's always horrible, but he's just worse now that you came. I never did catch your name though?" Pyro pried.

To anyone else she would have told them it was none of their business, but she found herself growing a likeliness towards the boy. "Clara, my name is Clara."

"Any nicknames for you?" Bobby asked, joking around a bit, but curious.

"Not at the time being," she answered, taking a bite of her food, "Nor do I want one."

"Okay, I like the name Clara anyway," Rogue said, "but Bobby and I need to go meet some people in the lobby, you coming John?"

"No, that's okay, I'm hungry too. I'll catch up with you later." He went searching around the room, and decided to have the same thing as the older woman. "So what is it you can do?"

Clara eyed him as he sat down, curiously. "I turn into animals."

"You mean like, bunnies and fish." He almost laughed, then was silenced by the look she gave him. "Or what?"

"All animals, bunnies and fish included. Among my favorites though, are wolves and tigers. They seem to be the most helpful." She answered, deciding to forget his earlier comment. "What about you, I hear you throw flames?"

"I do, as long as I have a flame around to help me. For some reason I can't get it to just come to me," he sighed as he pulled out his lighter.

"Just throwing flames is enough to be considered dangerous and feared," she added, just as Scott stuck his head in.

"We need you Clara," he called in, and then walked back down the hall, his arm in a sling.

"Did you do that to his arm?" the boy asked.

"Yes I did," Clara said proudly before following after Scott down the hall.

"Alright, so what are we going to do about Stryker?" Scott asked the listeners. "After he and his son escaped that flood, they've been causing a bunch of trouble for our fellow mutants. We have reason to believe that Deathstryke has survived also."

Clara looked at him curiously, "Who's Deathstryke?"

"Someone with the same natural power as me, Stryker experimented on her too, and now she has claws coming out of each of her fingertips." Logan answered for her.

"You remember the experiment?" Clara asked, too stunned to hold back the question.

Logan looked at her curiously, "How did you know I was..."

"It was the way you worded your statement," she lied. "You said 'Stryker experimented on her too,' so I only assumed he had on you too."

"Yeah, I remember bits an pieces. I remember running out because it hurt so bad, and I remember what Stryker looked like. Is there really anything else worth remembering?" He asked.

Clara was offended, but gave herself a second to breath so it wouldn't show, "That sounds like Stryker alright, hurting others until they run out screaming like little kids," she said in a bit of a mocking tone, making Logan almost make a snap retort, but he was interupted by the Proffesor.

"What do you know yourself about Stryker, Clara?" he asked, curious, though careful not to get inside her head.

"Only about a few of his experiments, and I know about his son too, Jason." she answered, thinking back on how her brother had looked last she saw him. "I haven't seen either of them in years though, I try to keep my distance from those kinds of guys."

"Those kinds of guys? How many other times have you come across people like that?" Scott asked, looking at the girl, and then at Jean, hoping she'd try to get inside her mind.

Jean nodded, but as soon as she tried to focused, Clara blew up at her, "Stay out of my head you bitch!" She yelled, slamming her cup down on the table, making the wood crack a little bit. "Yes, I have come across those people countless times, but none as bad as him."

"Like who?" Scott asked, disappointed that Jean had been told off so easily.

"I don't remember their names," Clara answered, calming down a bit.

"You don't remember their names? You remember everyone else's, plus that much more!" he yelled, starting to lose his cool.

"No, I don't remember. I keep tabs on the one's who could prove handy, or that I have personal revenges that need to be given out," she tried hard not to look at Logan when she said this.

"Liar!" Scott accused her, shooting out of his seat.

"Scott, sit down please?" Xavier asked the boy.

"No need for name calling now, Cyclopes," she snarled back, leaning back in her seat and staring him down. This is where the first problem came in.

Laser's from his eyes shot down at Clara, hitting the table in front of her as her wolven paws jumped out of the way, and then shot off at the man attacking her. Dodging more and more shots at her, she finally made it to him, and just as she was going to bite down on his leg, she was seized by the back of the neck.

Turning around angrily, she bit down instead onto Logan's shoulder. "Ouch," he said, letting her go and rubbing his shoulder as it healed up. "Such sharp teeth you have."

"That is quite enough!" Charles yelled, "We are done for the day. I want someone watching Clara at all times to make sure she does't escape, and I don't want you or Scott to even see each other until further notice, is that understood!"

The girl's sighed, and Scott nodded, relieved he hadn't been bitten again.

Clara's lip pulled back to show her teeth. She didn't like orders from anybody, but merely said, "That shalln't be a problem, I don't want to see him anyways, and he can't even open his one eye without destroying something."

"Who's going to watch her first?" Scott asked, everyone except Clara glanced around the table, all stopping there gaze on Logan.

"Why me?" he moaned.

"You're the only one who can stand her, at least without being killed or wounded." Jean said, Clara turning her head to snarl at her.

"Clara!" Charles warned, and pointed towards the door.

Clara snarled at him again, but jumped down and trotted on her wolf paws down the hall.

"That's a good doggie," Scott teased once she was out of earshot, receiving a look from both Jean and the Professor.

Clara returned to her room and slammed the door. Logan, who was hit in the nose by the slamming piece of wood, stuck one of his claws in between the door and the frame, opening it easily. "Hey, you'd better believe I don't want to be doing this either."

"Then leave, I'm not going anywhere," Clara said, jumping up in the small windowsill and looking out, her back leaning on the window frame.

"Oh, but these are orders, and I need a place to hang my hat, if you catch my drift," he said, pulling out a cigar from his pocket.

"Put it away," Clara warned, not even bothering to look over at him.

Logan sighed and placed it in his pocket. "There is one thing I've been wondering, and you only have to answer this one question..."

"I don't _have_ to do anything I don't want to," she snarled at him.

"Well okay, but I only want an answer to this one question for now. How do you know me?"

"I'm not answering that, I'll give you an answer to one question this afternoon, but it has to be one that I feel I can answer with out giving out too much." She warned.

"Okay, okay, let me think of a good one then," he laid down on one of the couches, putting his feet up on the arm rest, "Goodness, how'd you get a room with enough space to fit a couch in it?"

"I don't share with anyone, and I asked for one. Now that you've asked your one question, I get one..."

"But that wasn't my...oh darn it, come one. That wasn't fair." he whinned, looking at her.

"I told you, one question. Now, let me see..." she thought about what she could ask without giving her personal ideas get in the way, "What's the earliest thing in your life that you can remember?"

"Well, seeing Stryker as I got into that tub I guess, but that's even fuzzy," he said, then quickly remembered his dream from the previous night. "No, that's not it. There was a girl," this got Clara's complete attention. "I don't know who she was, I don't even remember what she looked like, but I remember her."

_"How's that for irony?"_ She thought to herself.


	5. Watch the Language

**Hey everybody, I appreciate the reviews I've gotten, all of them so far have been good. I've been wanting to think up a nickname for Clara, either one that Logan had used for her before the experiment, and/or just one for everyone to use. You know like how Logan is Wolverine, Scott is Cyclopes, those kinds of names. Any suggestions would be highly welcomed.**

**Chapter 4: Watch the Language, You Might Tell Me Something Useful**

There she was again, that girl running around through the trees, dripping from the rain. Logan followed, trying to get any information he could. "Please tell me, who are you?"

"Who am I Logan?" she asked, turning her blank face towards him. "You don't remember me? You know there's a connection somewhere, don't you?" If she had lips, he could imagine her pouting at that moment.

"How about a hint, something at least to go on?" he asked, running ahead of her and stopping her.

"A hint? Very well then," she stepped around him and continued, grabbing one of the branches above her and pulled herself up. Climbing up to the very top. "Are you coming?" she called down. Logan looked up unsure of what to do, he didn't have a reason to worry, but he thought she did.

He took his claws and dug them into the trunk to help him as he climbed. The wind was billowing loudly, the tree swayed in all directions. As he approached the top, he was shushed by the lady. He turned and looked as she pointed down towards the streets of a city.

_The One below the people's power,_

_Who acts above the rulers of the tower._

_Who's head is the goal,_

_For memories we wish to unfold._

_To open the treasure_

_Of which you seek,_

_You must discover the key_

_In the heart at it's peak._

Logan looked down at the street, "Who is below the people's power? Who's head, who's heart, and when will it be at it's peak?" He asked, angry at merely getting a riddle. He turned his head to look at her angrily, but she had disappeared...

"Hey!" Clara woke to someone pounding on the door. "Unlock the freakin' door!" the man yelled.

"Ugh," she rolled over, and covered her ears with her pillow, "Go away, I'm sleeping, it's only..." she looked at the clock, "Eight thirty," she yelled.

"Yeah, time to wake up! We need your help in a class today," Scott yelled outside the door. Before he could step back, Clara opened the door, her hair was bedridden, and her nightgown all wrinkled.

"My help, hm...well I don't know. I never heard the magic word," she said, mockingly.

"Now! Professor's orders." he said, annoyed. As she started to close the door on his face, he put his hand up and stopped it. "Please," he added, hardly even whispering it.

"I'll see what I can do, just let me get dressed and what not," she said, smiling at the prospect of her winning that argument so easily. It normally took her about ten minutes to get ready, but she stretched it out this morning, trying to see how long she could get Scott to wait for her. After about thirty minutes, he called in for her again, and she walked out immediately.

"Storm has been having trouble with a few of her students, and the rest of us are busy, and your going to help her out," he explained simply.

"Why yes Scott, of course I'll help, you don't even need to ask," she said, teasing him with a high-pitched voice, he rolled his eyes in response.

"Down that hallway, then the second door on the right." He pointed, then walked in the other direction.

Clara knocked on the door, and without waiting for a response, stepped right in. "Scott politely asked me to help you out," Clara said to Storm, sarcastically, not bothering to keep her voice down.

Storm on the other hand, told her class to read a page from their books, and came over to speak to her. "That one over there," she pointed to a boy in the back of the classroom, "tends to cause a little...distraction." Clara laughed as she recognized it as the kid she met the other day.

"Watch this," he said to Bobby next to him. He opened his lighter and had a ball of flames ready in his hand. Right before he threw it, Clara stepped in front of him.

"Well, John, nice to see you again," she said, grabbing his hand, and the lighter in his hand.

"Hey," he let the flame die in his hand before saying more. "Give me that back!"

"I'm sorry, I won't." Clara said, grabbing a chair and sitting between the two boys. As she sat down, she slipped him the lighter back under the table. "Hey, orders are orders, I'm sorry," she said as the two boys tried to hold in their chuckles.

"Clara," Storm warned.

"Just keeping them out of trouble," she said.

"Yeah, well keep them from being a distraction also." As she turned around, Clara gave her a mock salute, making the boys go into a coughing fit to disguise their laughter.

This continued on for the rest of class, and finally everyone was dismissed. "Hey Clara, can I talk to you a second?" Storm asked.

"Great, if I get in trouble because of you two, you're taking the fall with me," Clara said to the two as they got up to leave, Rogue walking over to talk to Bobby.

Pyro, Iceman and Rogue walked out, the boys looking over their shoulders to see if Storm was mad or not. Once outside the door, Bobby and Rogue went to leave, leaving John to eavesdrop.

"Clara, I don't like it when you distract the class like that."

"Hey, I kept them out of trouble, didn't I?" She asked.

John jumped as someone placed their hand on his shoulder. Turning and looking up, he saw Logan's towering, unreadable face looking down at him. "Eavesdropping isn't a habit to get into boy?"

"What are you here for then?" he asked, defensively. "Shouldn't you be trying to win Jean over from Scott?"

Logan almost turned and smacked him right there, John flinched. Instead, he said, "I'm here to hear what they have to say."

"Then why aren't you inside?" John asked defensively. Logan scoffed and put his ear to the door, being able to hear the two well with his heightened senses, Pyro listening from the side of him.

"Do you know what he did? He went with Magneto the last opportunity that he got." Storm said immediatly, not bothering to lay it low.

Clara was shocked for a second, no, as a matter of fact, she hadn't known that. "Then why is he back here?"

"We don't know, he says that Magneto kicked him out. Why would he do that?" Storm asked, rhetorically.

"Maybe he wanted to come back, you ever think of that?" Clara asked, a bit of harshness in her tone, "Maybe he wanted to come back, but thought that jumping between the sides so quickly would make him suspicious."

"Saying Magneto kicked him out is even more suspicious. That evil mastermind always sends his lesser mutants into battle before the others."

Clara was shocked yet again, "Lesser mutants? What does that have to do with John? You can't be saying that..."

"That what, John isn't great? Yeah, you know what, he does not withhold the element of greatness that..."

Clara's lips curled back in a sort of snarl, "Element of greatness?! What the heck is that? Do you measure a person's greatness only on their power?!" Both Logan and John didn't have to lean into the door to hear the conversation now. "And I'm am not saying his power isn't great. Other than the power that I have, his is the coolest one that I have ever seen, _ever._ Besides that, he's a bright, young kid, and does not deserve to have a witch such as you treating or teaching him the way you do!"

Storm dropped her head, raising her eyebrows and biting her lip, trying to keep calm as the next words came out of her mouth. "Fine, if you don't think that I treat or teach him right, then why don't you teach him? You think he'll be able to listen even to you?"

"I don't know, but if you think of your students as a rank, you're not treating them right." She turned on her heel and stomped out, hardly giving the two boys enough time to find a place to hide.

"Get back to your room kid," Logan said to the boy as the new mutant stepped out of sight. John nodded, unsure of what to think about the conversation that just took place. He went back to his room, which he shared with Bobby, and laid on his bed, just trying to make sense of it.

Logan stepped into the room, "That was a bit awkward to listen too."

Storm jumped, looking up from her desk. "Logan! Don't scare me like that!" She placed her hand on her chest. "What can I do for you?"

Logan pulled out a drawing from his pocket, "I drew...found this picture on the floor, that person looks familiar, though I can't place it. Do you think you can help me find out who she was?"

"I'll see what I can do," she said, taking the folded piece of paper from him. "When do you need it by?"

"Just, whenever you get a chance," he said as he left. She opened the paper, and on it was a girl with no face, no identity features except the shape of a head. Sighing, she put it in her jacket pocket, and continued her work in her classroom.

**Alright, I know all of that isn't actually how it happened or anything, and no that doesn't quite sound like Storm, but I needed something to fill in parts of the story. I took both the first and second movies, and I have tweaked them quite a bit to fit with my plot.**


	6. Pieces Begin to Fall

**Chapter 5: Pieces Begin to Fall**

Instead of going to his room, John wondered the hallways until he found Clara's, which was being guarded by Jean. "Hi Jean," he said, politely, hoping he'd be allowed to go in.

"Did she really say all that?" Jean asked, already knowing what he wanted.

"May I?" he asked, not bothering to answer the question.

"I guess so, apparently she is your teacher now. Just walk in, if she gives you any trouble, come right back out, ok?" John nodded, and then opened the unlocked door and stepped in.

"Clara?!" John said as loud as a whisper would go. He heard a few things crash from what he assumed to be the bathroom. "Clara?!" he asked again, louder.

"Just a sec," Clara called back, putting away what she had taken out. Finally walking out the door, she saw who it was. "Oh, hi there. What are you doing here?"

"Umm...I was wondering...how are you getting along?" he asked, awkwardly.

Clara looked at him for a second before bending over her desk, "You little eavesdropper."

"I'm sorry, I was just curious, I thought I got you in trouble...I..." he was stopped by Clara putting her hand up.

"Don't worry about it, I would have done the same thing. How do you think I know so many things about everybody? Flash cards or something? No, it's really okay, and don't worry about getting me in trouble, they're "making" me stay here. If I get in trouble, they "make" me leave, so it doesn't really matter to me either way."

"They wouldn't kick you out because of that, would they?" John asked, looking around the room. The walls and floor, and everything just looked really plain. She didn't seem to have anything of her own.

Clara saw him looking about, "I didn't really carry much around with me, living on the streets in hiding. You didn't expect me to have much did you?"

"Well, I kind of expected you to have more," he said, finally bringing his gaze back to Clara. "So from what I hear, you're going to be my new teacher."

"I guess, but I don't know how much I'll be able to teach you. I was one of the top students in highschool, and college, but a lot of that has slipped away. It's all kind of ironic actually. My dad, he didn't care much where I went, as long as I went. He offered to pay as much as he could to get me a great job, so that I wouldn't have to return. Well, I haven't returned anyway. But yes, I guess I will teach you what I can." Clara answered, laughing lightly after she told the part about her dad.

"That's kind of...sad," John said, "About your father I mean."

"Hey, that's the way life works, some people have it all, some people work and acheive a lot, then there are others who just are. When I get my chance though, I will take it, mark my words. It may surprise even you."

* * *

"Clara, you busy?"

Clara answered the door to see Logan leaning against the outside of the door frame. "If I say yes, will you go away and just leave me be?"

Logan sneered as he pushed past her. "You know pretty much every mutant and their major points, right?"

"Major points?" Clara asked, confused.

"Like, who they are and were involved with, friendship wise or acquaintance wise or what ever, right?"

Clara saw where this was going, and sat down at her desk as she watched Logan's strong body lean on the wall, staring out into the rainy night. "What do you want, Logan?"

"That girl I told you about, do you have any idea who she might be? Any thing at all would be of a great help to me." He turned his head and stared into her knowledgable eyes. "Please, I've been trying to remember for eight years, for all I know, I could be forgetting fifty years of my life."

Clara turned her gaze away from him and stared at the ground next to her feet, rubbing her forehead with her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table. "What good will it do to know who she is?" she replied after several moments of silence.

"What..." Logan punched the wall, leaving a hole. "What do you mean what good will it do?! I need to know, how would you feel if you couldn't remember who you were?"

"I'd be a lot better off," she said. She had flinched when he had hit the wall, and a bit of fear strove through her as she watched his hand for any sight of his claws.

"Please, tell me something. Who is she? Or how do I know her? Better yet, how do I know you?"

He was pretty much begging now, and Clara would have driven him away empty handed, if only she hadn't looked into his eyes...the eyes she had once loved. Her heart broke for a split moment, but she pulled herself together. "If I tell you how you know her, will you let me go?" After he nodded, she gave a sigh, turning her gaze away from him again. "She...she was your girlfriend for eight years before your experiment. From what I've heard, you two were deeply, and completely in love with one another, but I haven't seen her since then, nor have I seen you until just these last few days. Now please, is that enough for today? I need a rest, and I can't do it with you just," she took a few breaths to keep her contrasting emotions under control, "Please?"

Logan had so many more questions to ask her, but decided not to push his luck. _Maybe I'll remember something now that I know more._ He said a quick thank you, and then left to be the guard outside her door.

* * *

_"Wait for me, I know how I know you now. Please, let me know your name, or at least the way you look now?" Logan chased her yet again through the wet trees and leaves. "Why are we in the woods? Why in the rain?"_

_"Why?" she echoed, laughing kindly as he did not answer._

_"Please, let me remember something," he tried to dig deep into his memories to come up with the answer, closing his eyes to do so. Once he opened them again, he saw her standing before him, this time, he saw droplets teasing her long brown hair, but this was only for a second. Her face became distorted, and in less than a second, Logan was being chased by an invisible animal who's teeth were all that could be seen as they bit, time and time again, close to his shoulder._


	7. Disappearances

**Chapter 6: Disappearances**

"Clara!" Scott shouted again from outside the door. "Xavier wants you there, we don't, he does. You don't want him mad at you, nor do I want him mad at me! So hurry up!"

Clara locked a chair under the door handle and laid back down on her bed, snacking on her apple. "I dare you to try to come in and get me," she snarled softly.

"Kurt has gone missing, if you help us narrow down our search, we might be able to leave you alone for a few days..." he called, trying anything to get her out of there.

Clara opened the door, "Help narrow down the search...as in?"

"Tell us your ideas, and we'll go get him."

She raised her eyebrow, and followed Scott, throwing her apple core into the garbage in the conference room. Storm, Jean and the professor were already there, which didn't surprise Clara at all. Logan walked in a few minutes later, which also didn't surprise her, but annoyed her greatly.

"I'm assuming Scott's told you about Kurt's...disappearance?" Xavier asked Clara.

Clara tried to make eye contact with everyone, excluding Logan. "Only that the little nightcrawler has gone, no more."

"Do you know where he would be or go?" Jean asked.

"That depends on two things, the first of which being if he left of his own free will or was taken?"

"We believe him to have left on his own for some reason," Storm replied. "The second thing?

"Do I get to go when you leave to get him?" Everyone around the table exchanged glances, Xavier was the first to look back at her.

"We can't let you out, you see, you could run off on us. To this day, you have not shown us that we can truly trust you..."

"Trust me?! I've been stuck here for days! You keep me locked up, and I'll leave whether you want me to or not, I promise you that. What have I done these last few days to thwart your trust that can't be related to me being bored around here?" Clara asked, her eyes as harsh as the teeth that were beginning to form in her mouth.

"Clara...please, they're doing what they can..." Logan was cut off when she turned her stern gaze onto him.

"Yeah, I bet you get to stay behind to. You've been tamed, you've..."

"Tamed? What the hell are you talking about?!" Logan yelled, not able to withstand his annoyance with her any longer. "I don't know who I am, for all I know, I'm a priest! I may not be as wild as before, but at least I'm not cruel!"

"Cruel?! How can you see _me_ as cruel, when everyday _they_," she pointed to the others at the table, "They know how desperate you are to know your past, and two of them can even help you remember, but they won't!"

"Clara, the mind can only be stretched so much at a time." The professor said, trying to ward off fighting before it began. "If we let you go, with another of the staff, will you promise to come back with Kurt, and with Logan's life still intact?"

"Why me? I can't stand her, we'll kill each other!" Logan argued.

"You two need to learn to trust one another, and I have the feeling you want to know the things in her mind that make her so, dare I say it, _cruel_. She has much she must learn from you too I believe. Am I right?" he asked Clara, raising a knowlegeable eyebrow.

"How long will you let me out, _master?_" she hissed, mockingly.

"You have one week to find him, or we're coming looking for you, both of you."

"I think you mean all three of us sir, unless we find Kurt before then, which would bring the total to four." Clara corrected.

They all looked at each other again, then finally Storm asked, "Who else is going?"

"Well, John of course, a teacher can't just leave and forget their pupil, can they?" she directed the last part to Storm with a snarl.

Charles rubbed his temple, "Fine, go find him, and you three go, your week starts as soon as you leave."

"Oh, and professor," Clara stopped at the door, making Logan have to wait to get around her, "Stay out of my head from now on, won't you?"

"Watch out for Stryker and Lady Deathstrike, I'd hate to see you chopped up into tiny pieces and experimented on." Scott added as they left.

"I've had my share of experiments, thank you cyclopes," this statement shocked all of them, but most of all Logan, who wanted to question her, but couldn't form the words before she was halfway down the hall.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

* * *

Clara knocked on the bedroom door, "John, come on, field trip!"

John came hopping out, still trying to get his shoe on. "Where are we going?"

"We're looking for Nightcrawler," Clara answered.

"Do you know where he is?"

"I've got a few ideas. Now come on, Logan's stealing Cyclope's keys, if we don't hurry, he might take off with out us." She started down the hall, and John had to run to keep up with her.

"Wouldn't the jet be faster, and what if he's to far away to get to with a car?" John asked as they neared the garage.

"He's not that far away, and a car's more fun to drive. If we run into Magneto, I would rather be a couple feet of the ground instead of thousands of feet." She looked at the boy when she said the last bit and saw his face go a little pale. "Hey," she put her hand on his shoulder to stop him before he opened the door to where Logan was, and looked him straight in the eyes. "I know why you went with Magneto, and I understand, I probably would have gone with him too. Why though, did you really come back?"

"I..." he began, but the door opened before he could say more.

"Could we get this over with please?" Logan asked, holding up the keys to one of Scott's best cars.

"I'll drive," John reached for the keys, but Clara snatched them away quicker.

"I'll drive," she said, opening the driver's seat door, and then let the boys fight about who was going to sit in front, of course, Logan won.

"So where are we going to look for him?" he asked as John clambored into the back, mumbling to himself.

"If he left on his own, he wouldn't go far without telling Storm where he was going. He's still in the state at least." She started the car and pressed hard on the gas, making both of the boys grab the doors beside them. "Since he has to be able to see where he's teleporting to, he probably hasn't gone too far yet."

"Can you slow down a bit?" John asked. Clara looked at him through the rearview mirror and thought that he looked like he was going to be sick. She rolled her eyes and slowed down. "Thank you. So where are we going first?"

"I'm...I'm thinking we do need to go out a few cities yet, or he would have either called or something to let all of them know he had arrived. So we'll drive for a few hours, and then we'll find a motel or something to stay in for the night."

Logan looked at her strangely, "Aww, you afraid we're gonna get attacked in the middle of the night? Or are you afraid of the dark?"

Clara lifted the side of her lip, which Logan took to either be a snarl or a laugh. "The reason I'm worried about being caught by either Stryker or Magneto is that there have been rumors that they're both in the area." John took to quick of a breath and started coughing. Once she was sure he was okay, she continued. "Plus, I'm taking you out of school, I'd almost feel guilty if you were too tired because of me."

"He can sleep in the car, and I can drive, there's no big deal." Logan said.

"Plus I don't really want to find Kurt just yet. You guys have had me pretty much under lock and key, I'm bored there, I have no idea why I haven't left yet. I intend to make the best of the whole week that I get to leave, and I'm sure John is too." John nodded his agreement. "And you, you're too submissive, I think a while away will do you some good too."

"Submissive? So are we bringing that up again?" He tried hard to keep his voice under control.

"Oh please, you came in, they made you a promise or two, and now you do whatever they ask of you. For a while you tried a few retaliations, in a sense anyway, but now..." she let that hang in the air for a while before continuing. "What I wouldn't give to be back out on those streets, it was fun getting to go where I wanted, getting to pick a fight whenever I felt like it."

"So why don't you go back then?" John asked, leaning forward so he could be more into the conversation.

"I'm needed here, for now. Afterwards, I will probably go back. Storm did talk to me after the conference though, and she said, I'm sorry to bring it up already, but you are required to still do some sort of school work, so I brought something for you to read. Get started," she grabbed a book from her bag and threw it back to him.

"Oh, now?" he moaned.

"Yeah well, it's one of my favorite books, and my boyfriend in highschool, he absolutely loved it too."

"Great, I get to read the book some preppy guy likes." John sighed again.

* * *

"He was nothing like a prep in the least. He was arrested five times by the time he was in the tenth grade. I got after him for it so much, for we had been dating sense nineth grade, that he finally shaped up quite a bit. You know, he got out of drugs and gangs and what not. He was still pretty tough and what not though. This is one of the best books ever, read it. It's not like you need to do any work for it, just read." Clara finished as the sun began to set.

They had been driving for hours, and it was pitch black out once they were with in a few miles of the next town. Clara looked into the mirror again and saw that John had fallen asleep. She reached foreward and turned the heat up before slipping one of her hands between her thighs to keep it warm. "How much do you remember about her?"

Logan looked over at her, confused, "Who me? Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about now."

"So, how much do you remember?"

"Not much. Only her hair, her height, and some woodsy area in the rain. I don't know anymore about what she looks like, or why the woods and rain are there. Does the rain and woods mean anything?" he asked, hoping she would know.

Clara took a deep sigh, debating about what to tell him again, "I guess, it's your dream."

"I remember how I felt about her too. Whenever I dream about her, as annoyed as I am at not knowing who she is, it seems to all turn into how much I loved her. I don't even know her name."

"What's in a name, does the name matter all that much?" She asked.

"No, but I bet it was really pretty. Something that just rolled off the toungue easily, and that just fit her so well."

"I do have to admit something to you Logan...about your girlfriend." she bit the inside of her cheek, not able to look at him.

"What's that? Do you know her? Do you know where I can find her?" he asked, his ears pricked for an answer.

"Yeah, I know her, I knew her better than anyone else did, including you." she nearly snapped the last part, but caught herself. "Her and I were so close, we could have been the same person."

"Where is she?"

"She's...gone, Logan. The day you ran out, it killed her. She thought you hadn't loved her anymore or something, and it killed her." Clara answered, it wasn't a literal truth, but metaphorically, it summed it up perfectly. "There should be a place up a...who is that?"

Logan looked up ahead, both him and John had to catch themselves as Clara slammed on the breaks not to hit the boy. Once they stopped, Clara looked out of the window, and turned the car lights on bright. Up ahead there was a boy sitting in a wheelchair, and if she hadn't known him, Clara would have thought he was dead. Instead, Clara did recognize him, and she couldn't keep the name from escaping her lips..."Jason?"


	8. Trapped

Chapter 7: Trapped

"Does that mean...?" John began, having been awakened by the momentum Clara had used on the break.

Clara was frozen for a second, but then returned, more alert than before. "Hold on!" she told them both, pressing the gas and maneuvering around the wheelchair, trying to get away before anyone else showed up.

"S-s-stop the car," Logan hissed. His eyes were slits, and the voice definetly wasn't his.

"Leave us alone, Jason!" Clara yelled.

"Th-th-that can not, be done." Logan let out a groan as he began to seize. Clara saw John doing the same in the back seat. "Sssstop the car, and I will let them go."

She swore, but stopped anyway. Looking at the two boys, she saw they had come out of it, both sweating and looking confused. "Stay out of my head, Jase. You know I don't fall for your tricks." she said aloud.

"You seem to when he uses them on others." Clara jumped and turned to the window to see the one person she had tried to avoid for all of those years. "Come, my daughter, we only wish to speak with you."

Logan and John looked at her in shock, "Claire..." She shot an angry glare to the young boy in the back.

"I'm no daughter of yours, let us go, we aren't looking to bother you," Clara snarled.

"Yes, but Kurt and Mariai might see it otherwise. They might think you decided not to try and help them, leaving them to die alone, in their miserable cells."

"Mariai, I...how did you find her?! Why do you have her?!" Clara was completely outraged now, stepping outside, she slammed the door angrily and jumped on top of the car, staring down at the man, menacingly.

"Why, experiments of course. After you saw this young man's not work out well, I have since perfected his on another girl, and am now at work on the other two. The only problem I seem to be having is how to keep them down and in one place during the experiment. Jason's almost got Kurt down, but Mariai, well she's a bit harder. Luckily," he turned and Clara saw three other people approaching. "We have some help this time."

"Ahhh," Clara jumped down and opened the door on Logan's side, she realized who the others were when she saw Logan screaming, and his body stretched out unnaturally.

She twisted her mouth in a grimace, then ordered both of them, "Out of the car, we're going with them." Magneto let Logan go, and the boy's hopped out, just as Clara felt a pain shoot up her leg. Letting out a moan she looked down to see five knife-like shards sticking through her thigh. Deathstrike pulled her hand back, a smile coming to her face.

"Hey!" John opened his lighter and prepared to burn the girl, who turned and looked confidently at him.

"No, John. I'm...fine," she gasped out, her hand pressed on the flowing wound. "We'll go with them, we'll be out in a week." Her companions got the hint about being rescued, and then finally agreed to follow.

"Good, Magneto take our little pet here," Stryker teasingly scratched under Logan's chin, which angered him greatly. "Mystique take John, and I think my Lady, would like to take Clara." Deathstrike smiled and stepped forward, putting on hand of claws behind her back, and the other hand she used a claw in front of the girl's neck.

* * *

"Watch your head," Yuriko laughed as she shoved Clara into the cell, followed by Logan and John.

"Your friend is in the next room, if you want to...catch up." Stryker laughed, closing the door quickly before Clara's wolf teeth were able to latch onto him.

Once the door was closed, Clara let out an angry yell as she punched the wall, leaving her knuckles bleeding as well as her leg.

"Clara?" She turned and ran to the wall where there was a small window in the wall.

"Mariai?" Clara answered. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, and Jason tricked me. Your brother always bothered me. And now I can't get out of here, it's weird," Mariai replied. Behind her, Clara saw her pets circling about.

"Who are they?" Clara asked, nodding towards the two white wolves.

"That's Cheza, and that's Kiba. Their mutantish also, sort of."

"Who is this, Mariai?" One of the wolves said, his head reaching up to the window.

"I'm an old friend," Clara eyed the two wolves a bit uneasily. "Have you tried escaping, or are they like, super tough to get out of?"

"We've tried, but we can't seem to get through anything."

"Alright, I'll think of something and let you know. We should have some help in about a week or so, if we're still alive then." Clara finally said, trying to think of something spontaneously, without any prevail.

"Clara! Come here and let me at least do something about your leg." Logan called, ignoring anything in the other cell.

She did as he asked, sitting down in a chair across from him. "Just tie something around it for now, we'll worry about antibiotics when we're out of here. In the meantime, we have to figure out where Kurt is."

"I think, in the meantime, you need to explain some things to John and I here," he said, wrapping her arm up with some gauze he had found in the bag that Clara had brought on the trip.

"I've got nothing to explain to you, either of you," she snapped at the two of them.

"Clara," Mariai called from her side of the wall.

"Fine. Yeah, Stryker's my dad, Jason's my brother, and yes, I was there at your experiment. The day after you ran out, I did too. I haven't seen either of them since, until today..."

John and Logan stayed silent for a while, finally Clara spoke, "You two need some rest, go to sleep, I'll watch out for you guys."

As much as they didn't want to, they obeyed, and fell to sleep on the hard ground.

* * *

_"Please, wait up! I'm tired of having to chase you, please, just stop!" Then he saw more. This time, he wasn't the only man in the woods with the girl. "Now who are you?!" Neither of them could hear her, all Logan could do was follow..._

_The boy ran after the girl, looking up to the sky, "Why are we here? It's going to rain in like, five minutes. I can hear the thunder already."_

_"I don't fear the rain," she answered him, turning her head so that he could see her eyes twinkling._

_Her eyes! Logan could finally see them, and her nose, and even her lips, which were blue from the cold. Whoever the other boy was, he had noticed this too._

_"You're cold, come, let's go back." He ran up ahead of her, stopping her in her tracks._

_"Just a little farther, please? I don't want to go back home yet, I like it here. Away from people, from their injustices, and their treatments. Can't we just stay, just a little longer, please?" her eyes turned up towards the boy's, pleading to him._

_Logan could see the young boy, and depicted that it was a younger him. The boy's gaze was soft, and Logan found it strange to be looking at such a weaker, softer, younger being of himself._

_"Fine, but at least take my jacket, you look like you're freezing, and you're gonna be wet soon."_

_She nodded, relieved that they didn't have to leave yet. Once his jacket was around her shoulders, she walked on. Finally, just before the rain started, she pulled herself into a tree, and climbed up higher in the branches._

_"Get down from there! There's going to be lightning any minute."_

_"Would you stop worrying, Logan? I like it up here, and I'm not afraid."_

_"But I am, I'm scared for you, please come down."_

_The girl looked a little shocked by his comment, "I will not come down yet, but you may come up, if you like."_

_He moaned and grabbed the first branch, climbing up tot he branch just below her. "Alright, I'm up, can we go, please?"_

_"Why do you worry? The chances we're going to be hit are very low. If you as high as you were the other night, you wouldn't be worried."_

_"I know you hated seeing me like that, and I'm sorry, I didn't want you to. If you come down now though, I promise I'll stop."_

_"Why should I believe you, promises are just things people say to get them to agree. Those people they trick are always let down."_

_"You can trust me, I won't break this one. I really won't, just please, I don't want to see you get hurt."_

_She sighed, looking down at him, not noticing the older bystander behind her. "Alright, I'll come down, but you're gonna have to move so I can step there."_

_The younger Logan stepped down ahead of her, keeping his eye on her, as the rain finally started. As he watched her, a bolt of lightning hit near them, making the girl jump. She slipped and began to fall._

_The older man tried to catch her, but his hand passed right through her. "Clara!" the young boy yelled as she fell out of his reach. Both Logans jumped to the ground, running to her._

_Logan stood back as his younger self rolled her over, and pressed his hand to her bleeding head as he shouted for help to the unlistening trees._

_As Logan watched, he saw her bruise transforming into three long scars. He saw her kneeling on a tile floor, holding burnt hands in front of her, looking up at him with the same pleading gaze she had used earlier._

_The woods scene came back to him, and he saw her wake up, looking up at the boy. "I'm fine, Logan, don't worry about it. Just a bruise."_

_"I knew something bad would happen, I shouldn't have let you come out here."_

_"I wanted to come out here. If you hadn't come with me, I would have been here by myself, and that would have been worse, don't you think?"_

_Logan watched as the boy followed a rain drop run from the girl's cheek, onto her lips. He pressed his lips to where the drop had stopped, and both of them closed their eyes, and then everything went black._

* * *

He woke up suddenly, startling Clara, and from what he heard the wolves next door also jumped.

"You okay?" Clara asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That...you knew what it was all about. The rain, the woods, the girl, everything, you knew!" he yelled, jumping up and staring down at her angrily, fire in his eyes.

"Logan...that was a long time ago," she said, closing her eyes and sighing.

The others were up by now, and were ready to do what they could if a fight began. "It doesn't matter! You knew, no, you were her! You should have told me!"

"Why? So that you can go on not caring, only to know about some girl who you were dating, and then hit before running out on her. I tried to stop that damn machine! Then what do you do?! You hit me! Then you just ran, leaving me there to ask what happened. Why should I have told you? I knew you were hurt, I don't know why you took it out on me, but you did. I didn't want to remember it just as badly as you wanted to. I gave you hints anyway, very subtle ones, but still hints."

"I dont' know why I hit you, but I know I didn't do it to hurt you. I know how much I cared for you then, and I would not have hurt you."

"Yeah, that's what I had thought too. Then I arrived here, and you didn't know anything about me, couldn't remember a bit about me. So I tried to let it go, it was better that way for both of us."

"You..." he was cut off when the door was opened.

"Clara, Stryker wishes to see you." The smirk on Yuriko's face showed that she had been listening.

As she stomped out, the boys, and Mariai from her window, watched her go, all of them curious.


	9. Escape

**Chapter 8: Escape**

"What the hell do you want now?!" Clara yelled as she was shoved into the room, limping due to her bloody leg. "We're here, can't you just leave us alone for a day or two, or something?"

Styker waved away the others, leaving only himself, Clara, and Jason. "Well, well, it's like a family reunion, huh?" he chuckled at himself.

Clara snarled at her brother before he even tried to read her mind. "I repeat, what do you want?"

"Soon I'm going to start my testing on the three of you, as well as the other two. I'm trying to come up with ideas to use the metal. What do you think? I could just pour it around your body or something, you know, make you unable to be pierced, Lady Deathstrike wouldn't be able to hurt your leg again."

"What is this?! I'm supposed to sit here and help you decide how you're going to mutilate my body?!"

"You're messed up already, why can't you see that! Jason finally figured it out, that's why he helped me when your precious boyfriend had his stupid experiment."

Clara looked at him, about to ask when she heard a crash and turned around, seeing flames melting through the door, and Mariai running in, followed by John and the wolves. "Claire!" Mariai embraced her friend quickly. When she let her go, John stepped foreward.

Instead of hugging her, John was panting, "Logan...he's with...Magneto...and..."

"How did you guys get out?!" Stryker asked.

"You never took away his lighter. So I told him to use it on the door. And hey, it worked!" Mariai said, excited, then grabbed the boy and threw him on one of her wolves outside while she hopped on the other. "We're going to get Kurt and whoever else might be here!"

"Keep him alive please!" Clara called after her before shooting out and grabbing Magneto's arm in her wolf snout.

"Stupid mutt!' Magneto yelled, shoving her off.

This angered her greatly, and she lept at his throat, and almost had it. She clamped down on his shoulder which was raised to keep Logan still. He let out a yell and the Wolverine dropped to the ground.

Clara jumped in front of him, snarling, raising her tiger lips back to show her large teeth.

Jason jumped in, or his mind did. Clara couldn't see anything in front of her, and had no idea what was going on, except that whatever it was, wasn't real...or was it...

Magneto looked over and saw the tiger spazzing out on the ground. "While she's busy..." he picked the boy up as he tried to scramble over to her, and threw him against the opposite wall.

* * *

_She looked away as she saw him pull her close and kiss her, reassuring her. Once they finally walked in the door, she sighed, fearfully, and followed. _

_"Take your shirt off, and then get in the tub." Logan did so, and Stryker put in the needles. She looked over at the young girl who's face was pale, and who was trying to calm herself down._

_Her father walked over to the controls and pulled the lever, and Clara plugged her ears and closed her eyes as the screaming started, trying to get out of this. "Let me go, Jason!"_

_"Let me show you where I went wrong..." Jason's voice trailed off inside her head as she opened her eyes and saw someone there who hadn't been there the last time._

_She didn't recognize him right away, but after a moment, saw the knife in his hand. He had it clamped down against her neck so hard it was already bleeding. He laughed at her as she struggled against him, and as Logan stopped screaming._

_"I told you, she's mine. You wouldn't leave her to me, she's mine!" the boy hissed._

_"Sam...Sam let me go, please? Logan! Please!" the young girl screamed, tears streaming down her face._

_There it was, the arm rose, the hand came down, the girl fell, but the guy...Sam...was no longer there. "You wondered why he hit you...now you know..." Clara looked to where Jason had sat during the experiment, and he was staring right back at her, his eyes full of laughter._

* * *

Clara woke up just in time to dodge Deathstrike's attack at her throat. She hissed and grabbed a dagger out of her boot, turning and stabbing it into Yuriko's side. Then, pulling away quickly before the claws hit her chest.

All of the spazzing had made her perspire, and the scars on Clara's face were clearly visible now. As Yuriko saw them, she smiled, laughing at her. "You stupid girl. What are you going to do?"

"Clara!" She turned as Mariai threw a sword at her that she had stolen off of one of the other prisoners.

Clara caught it, "Go help Logan!" she called, jumping up as the wolves rushed by under her.

* * *

Magneto was playing with him, beginning to pull the metal to the skin's surface, Logan moaned in pain until Mariai swung her own sword and stabbed the man through the heart. She jumped down beside Logan, twisting her sword around her back and then grabbing it with her other hand. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, where's Claire?"

"Get Mystique while I get the other guards," she said, leaving John to hang onto the wolf's back, to afraid to get off at the moment.

Logan turned to the blue girl, unwillingly, and saw Clara walking towards him, "That's not funny," he snapped.

"I thought it was," she turned into her regular self as she sent a well placed kick into his chest, pushing him back. "If you want to see her again, I'm sure they'll let you see her after Yuriko's done with her."

Logan's eyes snapped open, so many pictures snapped into his head at that moment. He slashed at her with a new found sense of vengence.

* * *

Clara used the sword to block a blow to the head, slicing the other's hand, but her leg wound was reopened anyway.

"You gonna give up yet?" she asked, covering her mouth as she pretended to yawn.

Clara doubled her speed, trying to gain any sort of advantage, even though it wouldn't help her much. A bead of sweat ran down the middle scar on her face as she concentrated harder and began to breath harder.

The sword went flying, and Clara was shoved onto the ground.

From across the football field sized room, Logan saw her fall. "I'm not losing her again!" he snapped at both Mystique and himself. He slashed his claws across her neck and left her chocking in her own blood as he started running across the floor, dodging out of the way of the numerous guards that Mariai threw to the ground.

Clara looked at where her sword landed, and then back into the silver eyes that were coming closer. At the last second, she turned into a wolf and shot out towards the sword, feeling her legs give out as claws were stabbed down through her back. She threw her head back, her eyes already watering from the pain.

"Nooo!" Logan jumped in front of her, anger burning in his brown eyes. "Don't touch her." he growled, stabbing her through the chest, only making her stop for a second.

As they went at it, Clara dragged herself over to the sword. Then taking a few deep breaths to give her confidence, she leapt once more at the small girl, and twisted the sword about so it went right through Yuriko's neck, and then landed on her good leg, the girl's head landing beside her. Logan and Clara watched as the body went into spasms for what seemed like minutes, and then finally fell, laying lifeless beside them.

"John!" Clara called for him. She looked up as she saw him approaching, trying to keep his legs under control, his hair all messed up from trying to hold on to the charging wolf. "Would you?"

He opened his lighter and manipulated the flame, then threw it at both the head and the body. They watched as first the skin, then everything else burned, leaving the clean metal on the floor afterwards. "Good job kid," Clara complemented. "Where Mariai...oh dear," she started laughing as she turned towards her friend who was surrounded by about twenty dead bodies, and who only had a small scratch on her cheek.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, running up to her, and picking her up to take the weight off of her weary muscles.

"I'll be fine, put me down, I can walk." She tried to push herself away from him, but he just held her tighter. Clara saw the muscles in his arms tighten, and could feel how tough he would fight to keep her there in his arms. She placed her hand on his cheek and made him look her in the eyes, "I can walk, Logan."

He saw the same blue eyes that had, so many years ago, put a sort of spell over him. He wanted so much to taste her lips again, would have given anything, but instead, reluctantly, let her down. "Just, be careful, okay?" he whispered after she was out of earshot.

"Let's get back to head quarters," she called to the boys. "Your coming too of course, right Mariai?"

"You wouldn't seriously leave me here, or at least I hope not," she replied seriously, trying to keep back the smile that was threatening to show.

Clara saw the side of her mouth twitching, and beat her old friend to the laugh, but she quickly joined in, and they hugged again. "It's been several weeks, hasn't it?"

Mariai nodded as they withdrew from each other's grasp. "At least, I thought you had gotten into trouble again, and I was right."

"Yeah, but you beat me to it, so you can't really get after me."

"That's what you think," she replied, laughter floating in her eyes.

"Alright then, let's get going, where'd Kurt go...Ah!" she screamed as Kurt popped up right in front of her. "Ok then, John, Lo---gan?" she looked around. "Where'd Logan go?"


	10. Repetition

**Chapter 9: Repetition**

Clara smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Logan..." she growled, softly. "Alright, Mariai, I need you to take John back to the school, he'll tell you how to get there." Mariai nodded, whistling for her wolves.

John, however, stepped foreward, anger burning in his eyes. "I don't want to go back yet. We still have several days you know. I can be out of school for a few days."

"John, not now, I need to go find him, and then..." She jumped out of the way as the wall behind her was scorched. "What the...?! John!" As she stood up, trying not to put weight on her bad leg, she had to dodge flames again.

"You're as bad as everybody else! I'm capable of more than you think I am!" He yelled, throwing the flames towards her again.

Mariai ran into him, trying to gain control over his mind, but his rage was to great. Though she did get him to drop his lighter. She kicked it over to Clara, holding the boy back, her wolves snarling down at him.

Clara snarled back at him, but decided she didn't have much time before Logan was too far away to get to. "Fine, you guys go into town and try to find us a place to stay the night. Your pets will probably have to wait in the woods." The two large wolves lowered their heads from where they were normally held above the woman's head. "Calm down, mutt." The male growled louder.

"Kiba, Cheza, leave her alone!" Mariai commanded. "Will do Claire, but his lighter?"

Clara looked at the boy, who had calmed down as Mariai held her sword to his throat. She threw the lighter to him, and John caught it. "Protect her, John. I don't want a scratch on her." Her friend wanted to protest, but got that Clara was trying to make him feel important. After a short nod, Clara turned on her heel and ran out on her wolf paws, limping.

* * *

She followed the scent out of the labratory, and out into the pouring rain. "Logan!" Clara called loudly, being nearly drowned out by the high winds. "I know you can here me!" she started down the hill which was surrounded by miles and miles of trees in all directions. "Come on! If you make me search longer than I have to, I'll get grumpy. If I return without you, Xavier will kill me!" she sighed as she saw a shape dart through some trees up ahead of her. "Damn it," she scoffed.

Running after him, she finally saw him plainly again. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Leave me alone Clara, I don't have anything I want to say to you," he continued on, not looking at her.

She turned into a human again, chasing after him, "I tried leaving you alone! You're the one who pressed it."

He turned to her, anger blazing in his eyes, "I didn't know! I wanted the truth, I wanted to know who you were, who she was! You can't be the same person as her, she was sweet, and kind. I-I stopped doing drugs, I started doing well in highschool, and then college. I stopped going to jail because of that one girl! I find it hard to believe that she's you, but I guess she is. I liked her better!"

"What was I supposed to do, say, 'Yeah, we were lovers back about eight years ago. Then you decided to be all heroic and sign up for some stupid experiment of my dad's to try and impress him, completely forgetting the fact that my dad hated all mutants, especially my brother and I. Then, you tried to be even more heroic, and must have been ignorant enough to forget my brother's power, and thought you were taking out some stalker guy who was threatening me, and you gave me three long scars on my face. Oh, you don't believe me, oh here, let me show them too you.'" She finally stopped, her eyes as angry as his now.

"Maybe not in that way, but I spend everyday trying to remember..."

"And I spend everyday trying to forget! Why should you win?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't you do that whole hip thing with your hands, it makes you look like a child." he hissed at her.

Clara's eyebrows raised, "A child?! A child!" she slapped him across the face, forcing his head sideways. He continued looking at the ground, his face stinging. "Fine, stay here, I don't want to deal with you anymore either. If you feel like coming back, we're staying in the city west of here, once I get John back to school, I'm leaving again. There is no way I'm coming back again." She turned and started walking back the way she came.

He remained silent, not moving as she walked away...

* * *

"How'd it go? Where's Logan?" Mariai asked as Clara knocked on the door. When Clara refused to answer, Mariai rolled her eyes, "Okay, John's taking a shower, and the wolves are hiding somewhere, so it's just you and me again. What happened?"

"I'd rather not..." Clara slumped back on the bed, closing her eyes. "Where'd Kurt go?"

"He took the car, he's on his way back to the school," Clara nodded, staring up at the celing. "Okay, if you're not going to tell me what happened, do you mind if I guess?" she asked, lying on the other bed as she propped herself up on her elbow. When she didn't answer, she took it as a yes. "You yelled at each other, because both of you are too stubborn to accept that either of you might be wrong. Now you're going to leave the school, and I don't care what you say, I know you kind of like it there, and probably never see him physically again, but everyday you'll think about him, and you'll miss him. Everyday going by wondering what would have happened if you had swallowed your pride, and had admitted you were wrong. Am I right?"

Clara took a few, long breaths as she chose her next words. "Am I wrong?"

"You're both wrong," she answered.

Clara propped herself up to face Mariai, "We can't both be wrong."

"Want a bet?" she looked over as John walked out of the bathroom, still a little wet.

"Oh, Clara, you're back!" he walked over to the bed where she was lying and threw something at her. Afraid it was fire again, she jumped, but then realized it was a book. "It was good, Logan had good taste...oh, sorry."

Clara looked at the book, and then picked it up and flipped through the pages. She smiled as she came to the part where one of the main character's best friends dies, and she could still see the little stain that Logan had put there when he had tried not to cry.

* * *

_"How are you coming in that book?" she asked, sitting down next to him on the couch._

_"Hold on, I'm getting to a good part," Clara leaned over and read where he was. Instead of staying like that, Logan began just reading it aloud to her._

_Clara leaned against his shoulder, and he wrapped his one arm around her, lying it across her stomach. She looked up suddenly when she heard him sniffle a bit._

_He blinked, trying to hide it, but a tear fell anyway, and Clara laughed at him. "Oh, is my tough Logan actually crying?"_

_"It's sad," he said, turning to face her. She laughed again when she saw his red eyes._

_"Oh, should we get you a different book?" she reached for the one he was reading, but he pulled it away._

_"No, I like this one. Besides, a good cry does everyone good every once in a while, don't you think?" He kissed her gently, then went back to reading the book._

* * *

"Go," Mariai said, even before Clara knew what she was going to say.

"Thank you," she jumped up and sprang to the door. Oppening the door, she was moving too fast to stop, and ran into Logan who had just been about to knock on the door. "Logan?"

"I-I-I..." he had had to catch her quickly so that they both stayed upright.

"You...?" she started, hoping he would continue, after he didn't, she decided she'd have to. "You wanted to come back?" He swallowed, and then nodded.

"I'm needed at the school, and I need to look out for Rogue," Logan said, not looking her in the eyes as he put helped her upright, and then stepped past her into the bedroom.

Clara felt as though she had been stabbed in the heart, but said nothing. "We're going back in a couple of days."

"We, so you're going too?" Logan asked with a tone that Clara wasn't sure of. Mariai saw how this conversation could easily go, and grabbed John, pulling him out of the fighting arena.

"I'm going to make sure Kurt and John get back safely. You're going back?" Clara replied, just a hair away from snapping at him.

"I'm going to make sure you all get back safely, and then..."

"Oh, that's right, because I can't do anything right, and if I go, then something's going to go wrong. So you have to come to make sure I don't screw up! Why didn't you just say so?!" she yelled, and Mariai tiptoed towards the door, making sure John was following her in case they had to run for it.

"Would you let me finish?" he asked, annoyed and rubbing his temples with his fingers. "I was going to say..."

"No! I won't let you finish because I don't care what else you were going to say! I want you too..." She jumped as Logan stabbed his claws into the wall beside him, angrily.

He took a few deep breaths to keep from yelling as Mariai shoved John outside, and then stood outside the door to listen. Logan finally turned and looked at her again, his eyes far from angry. "I was going to say, I'm going to make sure you get back to the school safely, and then try to convince you to stay...and if I couldn't, I would follow you where ever you went until you loved me again...or at least gave me a shot at being friends, if nothing more."

Clara was shocked, his eyes searched her for any hint at her reaction. She looked away from him and stared at the floor beside her feet. "I'm not going to just instantly fall back in love with you," she said, sympathetically.

"Fine, I can understand that," he answered. "But you'll give me a chance at least?"

Clara bit the inside of her cheek, "Yeah," she answered, finally, smiling up at him. "I'll give you a chance."


	11. Revelations

**Chapter 10: Revelations**

He grabbed her with one arm, pulling her in tightly to him, and then holding her there for as long as he could until she finally pulled away. She looked up at him, her eyes as happy as they had been eight years ago. She walked over to the door and opened it quickly, letting Mariai and John fall in a pile on the floor.

Logan chuckled, and then grabbed the book that was still lying on the bed. He laid down, flipped to the first page, and started reading. Clara smiled, and then turned as Mariai got up and walked over to her.

"I don't know where you plan on going tomorrow, but it is late, and I'm exhausted." Mariai jumped onto the bed that wasn't already occupied by the man, and laid down, nearly asleep already. John looked between everybody, and before he could ask, Logan snapped at him.

"You get the couch." he pointed to the small loveseat that was wedged tightly between the television and a desk. John sighed and grabbed the extra blankets off from where Logan was sitting, running behind Clara as he threatened to chase after him.

Clara laughed, quitely, "You can have the blankets John." The boy almost laughed at the man, but knew he shouldn't press his luck, so went to lie on the couch, uncomfortingly. Clara pushed Mariai over and then took up the other half of that bed. "Logan, can you turn the light off please?"

"I'm reading," he replied. "I don't want the light off."

"Yes, but we're sleeping, and that trumps reading at the moment." Logan sighed and looked over to where the light switch was. "Fine..." he turned it off and then jumped into his warm spot again. "I'll read tomorrow..."

Silence washed over all of them as they drifted into unconciousness.

* * *

Clara was the first to wake. When she found out that no one else was up, she sat on the edge of the bed, stretching her aching muscles, making several of her bones crack. She turned as she heard Logan stir, hoping she wasn't going to need to sit alone for hours, but was disappointed to see he had just moved slightly. Sighing, she went outside and looked around, happily taking in the fact that she wasn't being locked up in a cell, or even in a school.

She hopped onto some trashcans that were piled up in between the different rooms, and used her momentum to get her up, onto the roof, where she sat dangling her feet over the edge.

Looking down, she heard the door click, and saw John walking outside. "There you are, I was wondering where you went." Clara held a hand down to him, and pulled him up next to her.

"I didn't want to sit there and wait for anybody to wake," she replied. "So I came outside."

John nodded to show he had heard her. After a few moments, he finally had the nerve to ask, "We're going back to the school today aren't we?"

Clara looked over at him as she heard the sadness in his voice. "Yes we are, but we won't get there until late tonight."

"Still though, I don't want to go back there. Maybe I should just go off all by myself, then I don't have someone always looking over my shoulder, trying to control me. That's what you did, isn't it?" he asked.

Clara knew what he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that he would be free to do as he pleased, never being judged...but Clara wasn't going to lie to him. "I did run away, but as you can see that didn't help me much. It was when I returned to face them that they were all fixed up. There will always be someone who judges you, always someone that hates you, and always someone trying to control you. Running away isn't going to solve any of those problems."

He sighed, "I'm just another mutant to everybody. Logan's special, everyone knows and fears him. They all know you, and them I'm just there."

Clara's gaze softened as she saw the hurt in his eyes, "We are known, and feared, for the wrong reasons. Logan is feared because he has done many bad things in his life time. I'm feared maybe a little bit for the same reason, but more because I know stuff that I shouldn't. Is that really what you want?"

"I want people to think I'm not ordinary."

Clara sighed, then finally asked, "Why did you come back from Magneto? And how?"

"Do you not know?" Clara shook her head. "I...he...It was frightening there. He knew exactly how to get people to fear him, you know? And he could do quite a bit of damage to people whenever he wanted to. So, I ran. I don't think he was happy about it at all...he sent people after me, trying to capture me again. Then I showed back up at the school."

Clara pulled him into a hug, "That was very brave, kid. I think, if you try hard at the school, people will remember your name."

He gave a small smile before pulling away from her. Looking down, he wanted to jump off the roof, but was a little nervous. Clara grabbed his hand and helped lower him down, and then leaped down beside him.

She heard someone up inside, and figured whoever it wasn't was going to get woken up now anyway. Walking inside, she saw it was Mariai who was walking around. Glimpsing towards the last sleeper, Clara asked, "Who wants to wake him up?" Neither of the others offered. "Don't all jump in at once," she replied sarcastically.

Walking over to the side of the bed, she gave Logan's shoulder a little shake. "Logan..."

* * *

_The day before the experiment...how he knew that was a mystery to him. "Yes, Logan, sign here, and we'll be all set." Stryker gave a triumphant grin. When Logan hesitated in signing, the scientist added, "I'm sure Clara will appreciate it."_

_"Appreciate what?" Clara asked, coming down the stairs, having just woken up. She was still in her pajamas, her hair was a mess, and Logan thought she was beautiful. "Hey Logan, what are you doing here so early?"_

_Logan kissed her lightly when she walked over to him. "I had to talk to your father about something."_

_Clara narrowed her eyes and looked between the two. "About what?"_

_"Well...I..." Logan was afraid of what her reaction would be. She always hated her father's experiments._

_"He's letting me experiment on him," Stryker said, gladly. "As soon as he signs here."_

_Clara's eyes widened as she looked back at Logan, but he wasn't meeting her gaze. "Logan?" she asked._

_"I-I need the extra money..." he replied, finally meeting her gaze, and almost regretting it when he did._

_"Lo-"_

_"Here's a pen," her father held it out for him. Logan took it, looking down at the contract, feeling as though he were selling his soul. With shaky hands, he signed his name._

_"Lo-Logan..." Clara said, almost horrified. "How...why..." When Logan gave the pen back, Clara grabbed his arm and pulled him after her until they were in another room. She threw him in a chair, staring down at him. "Why the hell did you do that? You couldn't possibly need money that bad!"_

_Logan didn't answer, he didn't even look at her._

_"Would you answer me please?!" she yelled, getting really angry now._

_"I...can't..." he replied, finally looking up at her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her to him until she was sitting on his lap. "Please do not be angry with me, I have my reasons for doing this, I really do."_

_Clara folded her arms across her chest, "You know how I feel about his experiments. He hasn't had one work out in a long time. What if something happens to you?" she asked, her eyes begginning to tear up as the worry was heard in her voice._

_Logan looked at her warmly, then kissed her gently. "I'll be okay. He said he'd be careful."_

_"But that's what he always says," she leaned her face into his shoulder, giving up on trying to hold back the tears. She let them fall instead. "The last person di..." she couldn't bring her self to say what had happened, but Logan got the idea._

_He held her close, putting his chin on her head. Trying to keep his voice calm and even, he stated, "That's not going to happen to me, alright? I'll be the same person I am now, I'll just be new and improved." He tried for a smile, but didn't get one._

_"Fine," she pulled away from him. "If you're still alive, come and find me," she snapped, stomping out of the room._

_"Clara..." he called after her. When she didn't respond, Logan sighed and walked back through the kitchen until he reached his boots near the front door._

_"Logan, here's half the payment I owe you, you'll get the other half after tomorrow." Logan took the envelope from the man, counting to make sure he was being payed what he was supposed to be. "Tomorrow, around one o'clock work for you?"_

_Logan nodded and walked outside, turning back for just a second. "When Clara finally comes back down, can you tell her to come and see me, I have something for her."_

_"We'll see..." Stryker said, throwing the boy outside._

_There was a knock on the door, and Logan instantly knew who it was. Leaping up, he ran to the door, opening it to find her standing there. She didn't look at him, and from the way her hair fell, and her lines of mascara that ran down her cheeks, he knew she had been crying heavily. "Clara, come inside, please?" he asked. He didn't make any move to touch her, knowing she would have pulled away anyway._

_Clara walked inside, and then just stood there, staring at the floor, not wanting him to see her red eyes. She wiped her cheeks again with the back of her hand. "My dad said you wanted to see me?"_

_"Yes, I did," he almost started crying when she refused to look at him, his heart breaking a little bit. "Sweetheart, how long have you been crying?"_

_"I'm not...I mean I haven't been crying."_

_Logan sighed, sadly. "Come here." He took her hands and led her to the living room. "Will you just sit here for a second, I have something for you." She sat down, wiping her eyes again, making Logan feel even worse. He ran to his room, searching around in his dresser for what he had bought._

_Coming back to the room, he sat down on the couch next to her. "Happy birthday, Claire." Clara looked at his hands and saw the most beautiful necklace that she had ever laid eyes upon. It was a silvery blue color, with saphire embedded into it._

_Clara smiled, and finally looked up at him. "Oh, Logan, it's beautiful."_

_Logan smiled at her, caringly. "Turn around, I would love to have the privellege to put it on you." Clara turned around and pulled her hair up. He threaded the necklace around her neck, gently._

_Once it was on, Clara let her hair go and looked at it around her neck as she turned back to him. "It's beautiful," she repeated, looking up at him, her eyes twinkling._

_"Yes, you are." Clara blushed a bit, making Logan laugh. He ran this thumb along her cheek, erasing the evidence of her crying, before kissing her forehead. "I love you, Clara."_

_"I love you to," she replied, kissing him._

* * *

"Logan, goodness, would you get up already?!" Clara shook him again. His eyes finally opened. "Geeze, you sleep like a rock."

Logan laughed, half heartedly. "Sorry, I was having a good dream."

"Come on, we have to get back to the school." She threw him what little stuff he had, and then grabbed her own, the other two already being packed.


	12. Beginnings

**

* * *

**

Chapter 11: Beginnings

Mariai whistled once they reached the treeline. In several moments, she almost whistled again, but her two wolves walked into sight. "Alright, who rides with who?" she turned to the others.

John looked between all of them, "As long as I don't ride with Logan, I'm good."

Logan agreed, "I'm not riding with shorty, and I dare anyone to try to make me."

"Mariai..." Clara warned, seeing the grin come on her face whenever she's dared to do something. "John, ride with Mariai, I'll ride with Logan."

The wolves bent down for them to hop on, "Do not pull my fur, two legs..." Cheza snapped.

Clara rolled her eyes, and then jumped on before Logan did, not wanting to sit in the back. Logan sighed, but got up behind her. Kiba had already let on Mariai and John without a problem, and the wolves ran off.

Cheza's size made Clara have to lean down to avoid the tree branches from scraping her face. "Mariai, however did you find these mutant wolves? Their humongous, you didn't seriously find them on the side of the road or something?"

Cheza shot an angry glance over her shoulder at Clara. "That is none of your buisness, tiny."

Clara threw her hands up in a mock surrender, rolling her eyes. Logan nearly lost his balance, and wrapped an arm around the girl, not knowing he had done it until he had righted himself. They both blushed, slightly.

Logan wanted to know if she still had the necklace, but if she didn't have it on her at the moment, she probably didn't still have it. Though he didn't quite feel comfortable asking.

* * *

The silence weighed on the two of them, for Kiba and the other two had taken the lead, and Cheza was humming a wolven tune to herself. Finally, Clara spoke up, "Are you excited to go back to the school?"

Logan sighed, he had hoped the conversation would be something lighter, like even talking about the weather, but no. "Maybe a little bit, but I don't really care. As long as I have a place to stay," he shrugged. "How about you?"

"I do not truly want to go back, at least not to stay. It is so dull, there are classes, there are meals, and there is sleep...I haven't found a true reason to make myself stay there yet," she replied.

Logan felt a little disappointed, for he wished she would find himself a good reason to stay, but didn't let his disappointment show. "Where are you going to go then, surly you are not going back out onto the streets?"

"No, I will not. I would just like to leave, travel around for a while, though I would probably return after a while. See if I can't round up my disastrous father and brother, for I regret not killing them yesterday. I may be able to save Jason, but Stryker..." her voice trailed off.

"Stryker needs to know that his daughter is not a screw up, and that she is amazing in everything she does," Logan whispered to her, continuing her statement quietly, making sure none of the others would hear. "But if he can't see that mutants should not be experimented on..."

"He will have to die..." Clara finished, stating it quickly before she could take back the words.

They sat in silence a while longer, until the wolves stopped. "We can stop to eat if you wish, and take a few extra days getting back, or we can keep going, and be there by late tonight," Mariai said, turning to face everybody.

"Let's take our time," Clara spoke up for what everyone was thinking. Mariai nodded, and then hopped down, helping John down after her.

Logan jumped off the wolf, and looked up to Clara, unsure if he should ask. She hopped down on her own, but had to grab onto his shoulder, her bad leg still sore from the other day, and the riding hadn't helped. "Are you alright?" he asked, worried, looking down at her still bandaged thigh.

Clara bit her lip until the pain subsided, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Logan wanted so badly to pull her into him at that moment, he wanted to kiss her, and tell her that she'd be okay, that he'd take care of her. But he didn't, he helped her for a moment, making sure she didn't stumble, before Clara went off after John, looking for firewood.

* * *

"Are you really going to leave after we get back to the school, Clara?" John asked, once the others were out getting food.

Clara took a moment to answer, picking up branches that were still wet from the nights heavy rain. "I haven't completely decided yet, but it is most likely."

"You're going to leave me by myself at the school?" John asked, looking at her.

Clara glanced at his gaze, but had to turn away, his pleading eyes were pulling at her hard enough to give a bad answer. "I will return, John. I'm not going to leave forever..."

"You are going to leave me there? What of Mariai, she gets to go with you? And Logan, what about Logan?"

"We are adults, you are a child. You..."

"I am not a child!" John yelled, throwing his sticks down. "And I don't want to stay at the school!"

"John, you need to stay in school, but I can't stay there..."

"What was all that talk about not abondoning your pupil then! You're going to dump me, just like everyone else there did!" He was angry now, and began playing with his lighter.

"I'm not dumping you, John. If you come with me, you might regret it."

"But if I stay there by myself, then I will regret it!"

"You have Marie, and Bobby, do you call that being by yourself?"

"Yes! They have each other, I'm just a third wheel to them. They would get on fine with out me," angry tears were beginning to run down his cheeks now.

Clara knew he was right on that account, so didn't challenge it. "I can't take you with me, John...but if it means that much to you...I can stay at the school..."

John looked up at her again, shock and relief flooding his eyes. "Really? Thank you!" he jumped at her and hugged her quickly, making her have to drop all the sticks that she had already collected.

"You're welcome," she replied, with more happiness than she felt. "But you have to give me your word that you won't give up on this."

"I promise, I won't give up, and I won't run this time." He jumped for joy, collecting the wood again, and heading back to where they had stopped earlier, leaving Clara to pick up all that she had dropped.

Logan finally stepped out behind her, "You mean it, you'll really stay?"

Clara didn't turn around to face him, but she nodded. _He didn't know, Claire._ she thought to herself. _He doesn't know how locked up you feel there, how much it makes you feel of your old home._

"Well good, that makes me happy as well." He bent down to help her pick up the sticks. After picking up a few, he subconciously looked up at her, doing a double take. Her eyes were threatening to let tears run out, down her cheeks.

Logan put down what he had in his hands, and put his finger under her chin, making her look up at him. "What is wrong, Claire?"

"Nothing." She turned her head away fumbling with her load.

He brought her face to look at his again, "Come here, Claire." He held his arms outstretched, and Clara didn't take an extra moment to think about it. She threw herself into him, crying on his shoulder.

Logan runs his hands through her hair, as he does so, he stops for just a second, seeing the outline of a necklace under her collar. He smiles, gently. "What is wrong Clara? Why is it you don't want to go back?"

Clara didn't know how to explain it, but pulled back from him, moving her hand up to wipe her eyes, but Logan beat her to it, wiping away a few more tears that had slipped out of her eyes. "I...I know you probably don't remember this, but when I was younger, especially after I started dating you...my father was a cruel man. He never hit me or anything, but he had his own ways to do things. Whenever he got mad at me, he would grab my arm so hard that the next morning there would be a large bruise there. He would pick me up by the arm, and throw me in my room. Eventually I would go on my own, but he would stand guard outside, and he would lecture me about how it's all because of my powers, or how it's all because of my brother's powers, or it's all because of you. Many of the times when it was about you, I would jump out of my window and come to your door, and would be in even bigger trouble when I got home, but I had thought it worth it at the time. When I left, I...I was able to go where I wanted, if I was angry, I was allowed to be. If I felt like picking a fight with someone, I could do it. I didn't need all that extra comfort I had sought out, or at least I didn't think I did. I was free to be whomever I wanted, and then I got to the school. You guys locked me up, kept watch over me, tried to get me to just roll over and cooperate. I don't want to do it, I want to be free yet, and I know that's how John feels too, I do know that. Which is why I have to stay and help him."

Logan's gaze had softened as she talked, especially the comment she had made about himself. He hugged her again, "They can not make you do anything, Clara. I will see to it that they don't. And John can handle himself, I'll watch out for him too, if you do decide you want to leave."

Clara shook here head where it lay on his shoulder. "I already told him I would stay...and he is not the only reason holding me from leaving either."

"Oh really? And what is the other reason?" he asked, looking down at her.

She met his gaze, "I don't want to leave you again."

Logan smiled, the words making his heart rise into his throat. "I don't want...no, I won't, ever leave you again."

Clara's eyes filled with tears of happiness, and she could see Logan's eyes turning a little red also. He leaned in and kissed her.

As soon as he knew she wasn't pulling away, he placed his hands in the middle of her back and pulled her closer to him, silently rejoicing as he felt her arms wrap around his shoulders. He slid his hand up to her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone, wiping away the few tears that had fallen.

Finally pulling away from her, though highly reluctantly, he told her, "Mariai has caught and is cooking us food. You looked half starved, so shall we go and get some food?"

Clara nodded, and was finally able to keep hold of her bundle of sticks now that Logan had taken half of them. They threw them in a pile beside the fire, and sat down next to each other. Mariai looked at the two of them, guessing the gist of what had gone on.

She handed them each a plate, which they took gratefully. "How much farther are we going today?" Clara asked.

"We'll go a few more miles, and then we'll stop for the night," Mariai answered, taking the plates from all of them when they had finished. "There's a small creek over here where you can get a drink or wash up or something if you like. Clara, will you help me wash these?" Clara knew she was going to say something to her, and followed after her friend.

"Do you need more help?" Logan asked, not wanting to leave Clara's side for a moment.

"No!" Mariai said quickly. "We'll be back in a few moments."

Clara took two of the plates and bent down to wash them, waiting for her friend to start talking.

"Do you know what you are doing, Clara?" she asked, finally. "He isn't the same person he was before, nor are you."

"It's not a crime to try it. It worked out once, it might work out again."

Mariai looked at her with concerned eyes. "Just don't rush into it, okay?"

"He makes me happy at the moment, Mariai. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. But I will be careful." She promised, handing the plates to her friend, and then walking back to their campsite, Mariai lagging along behind her.


	13. Plotting

**Chapter 12: Plotting**

When they had all settled down beside the tiny fire, Clara was still smiling, her eyes brimming, and even twiddled with her necklace, not knowing at all how happy that made Logan.

"Clara?" John asked quickly, making Clara snap out of her silent reverie.

"Yeah?" she asked, dropping the necklace and hooking her arms around her knees.

"Are Stryker or Jason going to sneak up and surprise us one of these nights?" All three of the other mutants turned at that question, staring at Clara for her thoughts.

Clara stayed silent for several minutes, laying back and propping herself up on her elbow as she played with a few pieces of grass. Logan and John both looked to Mariai, worried Clara had gone insane. Mariai held up her finger to make them wait.

"I could look into it..." Clara said finally, and they all looked at her again. "I don't know if they would try for us again now that they're down in numbers. Jason would be able to trick us, or even if he didn't do that he could make us see things other than reality, pretty much giving them freedom to do whatever they want to us...I don't know if they would though, not so quickly. They'd have to clean the place up first before they brought anyone there again, though their house isn't too far from here..." she was pretty much talking to herself now, trying to think through their options as they listened to her almost silent mumblings. They jumped when she spoke next, "Mariai! How fast can your wolves go?"

"A lot faster than they were today..." Mariai told her, trying to get her brain on the same page as her friend, but failing miserably.

"Can they outrun a car?" she asked, and this took them by surprise a little.

Mariai turned to her wolves, not entirely sure, for she had never tried. "Of course we could...but our endurance does have a limit," Kiba piped up.

Clara nodded, "How far are we from the school?"

"A couple days if we continued at the speed we were going earlier," Mariai informed her, just catching on. "Are you thinking..."

Clara cut her off, her fierce gaze giving her the answer. "You two, can you go to the school and give them a message for me?" she asked the wolves.

The wolves looked at each other, then at Mariai, before turning back to look at the mutant whom they were almost positive had just gone insane. "We would rather not leave Mariai here with that threat..." Cheza warned.

"No, Clara, I know you are going to ask, but I'm staying with you three, if not at least you."

Clara licked her lips as she thought. "Give me a minute," she told them finally, getting up and starting for the woods.

"Ugh...Claire," Mariai got up to follow, but Logan was up and following her first.

* * *

"Clara, what are you thinking?" he asked, not sure if he truly wanted to know.

"I'm thinking we're safer on foot...and that we shouldn't go back to the school..." she informed him. "None of us should..."

"We don't really have an option on that...we only have a few days to get back." Logan informed, hurrying a little so that he could walk next to her.

"That's why I wanted Kiba and Cheza to go and tell them why we aren't there...but I guess that wouldn't help our cause any...We could probably make it back before we got caught...I'm not sure how far they've gotten already, but...if they catch us, they probably won't let us live," Clara told him, trying to keep the shudder deep inside her.

Logan heard her voice crack slightly and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "They can't take all of us, even with Jason's power."

Clara bit the inside of her cheek, "If they were able to get Magneto and Mystique to help him, I'm sure he has others on his side that could stop us."

"Hey," Logan said, taking her hand in his, forcing her to stop. "No one is getting through me. Especially not to get you."

Clara gave a small smile, not meeting his gaze, but it fell quickly. She turned away and started walking again, though his hand was still locked onto hers. "I'm thinking we need to go...to where you had your experiment...up in Canada..."

Logan stopped, making Clara stop as well. "On foot...you expect us to get there on foot?"

"We aren't that far already, a few days to the border, and then we'll grab a car from there," she told him, watching him look at her like she was crazy. "If we take a car before hand then it'll be easier for them to find us. They can't get through the woods like Mariai and I can, even if we have to take you guys with us. Plus, I don't know about you, but I have nothing on me that will get me over the border legally, so we'll have to cross it, and that's a lot easier on foot also."

"Claire, I'm starting to wonder how you actually survived on those streets and how you learned all the stuff you did. Are you sure everything you learned was even true?" he asked, regretting it as soon as he looked at her face.

Clara's gaze was hard, her breathing ragged as she fought to control herself. She yanked her hand out of his, "Fine, go back to the school then. Go find yourself a car, I don't care. I'm not putting them in danger like that. If you don't believe that I know what I'm doing then that's fine, follow your own instincts."

Logan sighed, "Clara..." But she was already walking away from him.

He trudged after her slowly back to their makeshift campsite. From the looks of it, Clara had already told them what she was planning. John looked a bit skeptical, but agreed if it got him out of school. The wolves agreed to deliver the message with a promise to return just after. Mariai was excited, nearly jumping out of her seat in anticipation.

As Logan watched her, he couldn't believe how much trust the other girl put in Clara, in his Clara. Even though the plan seemed relatively insane to him, she was ready to follow it anyway. The only one who didn't seem to be smiling, other than himself of course, was Clara, and she wouldn't even look his way.


	14. Apologies

**Chapter 13: Apologies**

_"Logan...help me, please..." he heard her voice pleading, he could hear the fright and the tears in her voice._

_"Where are you?" he asked quickly. "...Clara, where are you?!"_

_"I-I don't know...downtown, in front of that store you like..." she sobbed, and Logan grabbed his keys and shot out into his car, almost forgetting the headlights even though it was pitch black outside._

_"Hey, calm down love, I'll be right there okay? Where are they?" he gunned the gas._

_Clara must have heard the car because her voice was a little more relaxed. "I can hear them, but I don't know how far away they are...Logan please, I'm really scared."_

_Logan sighed, "I know, I'll be right there. Don't let them find you, okay? I love you..." he heard a smash and a scream as he guessed the phone had fallen to the ground...and the guys had found her._

_He snarled angrily as he sped down the empty streets, ignoring lights and stop signs. "Hold on Claire..." he growled as he swung down the street. He parked the car just as he got out, having to run down the street as he tried to find her. Hearing a halfhearted attempt at a snarl, he turned and saw shadows moving in the store across the street._

_"Come here darlin', we won't hurt ya. No need to get all snippy now..." the guys laughed. Logan snarled as he saw Clara backed into a corner, snarling, her wolf fangs gleaming in the little light from outside._

_He didn't time to think why they hadn't run away from her when they found out what she was, he just acted. Jumping through the closed window, glass spewing everywhere, he snarled at them again. "Leave her alone."_

_"Logan..." Clara sighed with relief, changing back and running to him, only to be caught by one of the men. He had fangs, long, saber like fangs, and his fur brushed against her skin as he grabbed her, biting her neck hard enough to leave a mark and make her whimper, struggling to get away._

_Logan wouldn't have it, and his gaze filled with anger. Without a moments hesitation he grabbed his knife from his back pocket and stabbed it into the nearest guy's neck before pulling it back out and glaring at the other. "Let her go..." he snapped._

_Sabretooth bit her again, leaving huge puntures in her shoulder. She was way to frightened...and drugged. Logan finally noticed, they had drugged her. This made him even madder. There was no way she could react fast enough to change and get away from him. She could hardly think at all. "Hmm...no..." Sabretooth laughed, pulling her with him as he backed up._

_Clara whimpered again, "Logan..." she pleaded softly, getting the mutant's hard, cracked lips on her's now as punishment._

_Logan leapt foreward, stabbing his knife deep into the other's shoulder, making him drop Clara. Sabretooth yelled out in anger as he turned to face Logan, who then punched him before taking his place standing in front of Clara, glaring at the other. "Get out...and if I ever see you near my girl again, I'll kill ya. And it won't be a nice pleasant death either, I assure you."_

_Sabretooth glared, but did as the younger boy instructed, leaving without another word._

_"Logan..." Clara said again, and he was suddenly pulling her close to him. _

_Holding her tightly to his chest, "What were you thinking Clara?! What the hell were you doing out here so late?!"_

_"I-I got a phone call, and it scared me. Told me they were going to hurt Jason, and you...I..." she had to push away from him quickly as she vomited, the drugs making her sick. "I..."_

_Logan sighed, just picking her up and carrying her through the broken window to his car, ignoring the loud alarms that were being emitted from the store and the sirens from several blocks away. He put her on his lap as he hopped into the front seat. "Hold on Claire, we've got to get out of here." He wrapped his arm around her tightly and took off quickly, the speedometer never dropping below a hundred as he drove her to his apartment._

_Carrying her inside he dropped her on the couch, giving her a blanket, a pillow, and the trashcan, seeing as she was still sick. "We'll talk about it in the morning."_

_"Don't...don't leave me, please," she begged._

_"I'm right here love," he sat in one of the other chairs in the room._

_"I'm sorry, I was scared...I got the call, I thought it was just a creepy prank call. About a half hour later I heard someone smash the back window...I was home alone, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to stay there, so I ran. I was trying to find somewhere safe, I didn't think they'd follow me. Thought they would stay in the house, steal something, but then leave..."_

_"You didn't do anything when they first called you?" Logan asked, not catching anything past that._

_"I thought it was just ment to scare me...I didn't think..."_

_"No, you didn't!" he snapped. "You should have called me, or left then. You could have driven off somewhere."_

_"I didn't have a car..." Clara told him, her tone growing edgy as his grew angry. "You were probably asleep and would have told me to forget about it because it was probably some idiots who had nothing else to do at three in the morning."_

_"I wouldn't have said that!"_

_"Yes you would have! You would have told me I was being paranoid or something and to go back to sleep!" she was yelling now too. She sat up so she could better look at him._

_Logan's growl could be heard clear across the room. She was right, he probably would have said that, but that didn't make him any less angry. "So you just ran?! You could have flown you know! They wouldn't have been able to follow you then!"_

_"I did fly! I don't know how they still found me, but they did! I'm not an idiot. I do think things through!" she yelled._

_"Fine Claire, fine. Just...go to sleep," he growled as he leaned his head back in the chair._

_"No! Take me home!" she ordered, standing up angrily._

_"No, got to sleep," he responded, his voice flat._

_Clara saw his jaw clench and knew he wouldn't agree to driving her. "Fine! I'll fly myself home!" she turned, stumbling as she walked, an after effect of the drugs._

_"You can't even walk a straight line, how the hell are you going to fly?!" he snapped, having gotten up and caught her before she fell._

_"I'll figure it out," she snapped, shoving him away from her and leaving._

* * *

"Logan, wake up!" Clara kicked him in the back quickly to get him up.

"Ow..." he muttered under his breath.

"Then get up!" she hissed to him. Mariai and John both looked at her warily, ready to step in if they had to. Logan's lip curled up in a sneer, but he kept quiet as he stood. "Mariai, is there anything we need before we go?"

Mariai blinked, raising her eyebrows, "Um...no," she told her, keeping her voice a little friendlier to try to calm her friend. "We can go as soon as you're ready."

"I'm ready, let's go," she took the lead, hiking through the underbrush. John ran up to join her quickly, not wanting to stand near an angry Logan.

* * *

"If you don't be nice to her, I will control your body for the rest of your life," Mariai hissed to Logan, soft enough so that Clara wouldn't hear.

"Oh and how are you going..." before he could finish, Mariai ran into him. His foot hit a branch, making him fall head first into a tree. When he pulled away, his head let out a few drops of blood and Mariai was standing next to him, sneering.

"Watch it. I don't care if you like her or not, just be nice to her. She knows what she's talking about," She warned him as his head healed up.

"This is insanity. We could be back at the school in a couple days," Logan told her.

Mariai's nostrils flared as they started walking behind the other two again. "There were rumors of other mutants in the area before Clara set out on this. If Magneto was working for Stryker, then I doubt these are all just free roaming mutants."

"Do you even know which mutants these rumors are about?"

"Well, there's Toad, Sabretooth, Juggernaut," she began, but Logan raised his hand.

"Fine, I'll be nicer to her," he snapped, and Mariai didn't know if he ment it, but she ran ahead to joing Clara anyway.

"Okay, Clara, I'm really hungry..." John finally told her, grabbing his stomach as it started to make noises.

Clara sighed, "I'm sure we all are. Mariai, do you have anything?" She shook her head. "Hm...is there a road near here?"

Mariai thought about it, "Yeah, it's still about a mile away, but I think they have a gas station over there."

Clara patted her pockets, "No money," she reminded.

Mariai rolled her eyes, "Please, I'll get it. Wait here," she ran off.

Clara sighed, sitting down on a fallen log and rubbing her leg slightly. Logan caught the movement and finally asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Clara snapped to quickly.

"It still hurts?"

"No."

Logan rolled his eyes. "John, go after Mariai and tell her to get some pain killers at least for Clara, okay?"

John nodded, running after where Mariai went.

"Why didn't you go? You probably run faster than he does anyway," Clara said, emotionless, avoiding his gaze.

"Some one has to stay and make sure you don't run off or something. I doubt John could catch you."

"And you think you can?" Clara challenged, looking up at him with anger burning in her deep blue eyes.

Logan almost flinched under her gaze. "I can try. I told you, if you leave, I'll follow you. I wasn't joking."

"Fine..." Clara said slowly, trying to control her rage.

That's when Logan snapped. "Fine?! Really?! Clara...you're...you're impossible! Mariai told me to be nice to you, I know, but...you're just impossible!"

"Mariai told you...so what, you planning to be mean and yell at me every time she's not around then?"

Logan rolled his eyes, "No. Listen to me, please." He strode foreward, kneeling in front of her. He took her hands in his, pressing his lips to them gently, his gaze soft. "Clara you are impossible sometimes, I'm sorry, but you are. These ideas you have, they are...they sound insane and completely unneccessary. There's a good chance we didn't even need to do this."

"But there was no guarantee. We get up into Canada and Scott can come pick us up in the jet, and then we'll be back at the school. It's long and tiresome I know, but it's also the safest way to go." Her gaze was still hard at his words, but her tone remained softer. "Then you can go and do as you wish. Whether it's following me around or chasing after Jean again."

Logan's eyes hardened. "Is that what you think I'm going to do?"

"I don't know Logan, I really don't. I've seen the way you look at her. I know you love her," Clara said, her voice almost sad.

"I did love her, or I thought I did. But I'm having memories Claire. Of you, they're coming back to me slowly, but they are coming. What I felt for Jean was nothing compared to how I used to feel for you, how I still feel for you...how I feel for you right now." His eyes stared straight into her's with such intensity that she had to look away.

Finally collecting her thoughts she looked back at him, searching for any fault in his sincerity. There wasn't one. "Logan..." she sighed, pulling one of her hands out of his and running her fingers through his shaggy hair, making him smile slightly. "I don't want to have to see you leave me again."

"You won't," he took her hand back and kissed it lightly. "I will never leave you again." He kissed her forehead gently. When he pulled away he looked her in the eyes, locking her gaze to his.

She kissed his cheek lightly, and then her lips met his for a brief moment. "I know you don't like my plan Logan, but I assure you that I do know what I'm doing."

Logan sighed, running his fingers through her short hair, "I don't like your plan, but I trust you to get us back safely."

"Thank you," she told him softly.

"Hey, food, here." Mariai threw them what her and John hadn't already eaten.

"Thanks Mariai," Clara told her. The two starving mutants grabbed the food as quickly as it had been thrown at them.


	15. Fire Starter

**Chapter 14: Fire Starter**

"Yes! Finally over the country-hphmmm...." John fell backward as Clara lept on his back, smothering his mouth with her hand.

"There are people who would arrest us for what we just did, and they happen to be standing just over there. If you yell when I take my hand off, I will give you to them myself, is that understood?" Clara whispered quietly into his ear. He nodded, and Clara removed her hand before helping him up. "Alright, we'll go a little farther..."

"You said we'd get a car once we were over the country line," Logan reminded, getting a glare from both the girls.

"Fine, we'll get a car...or something, once we're farther in." She beckoned for them to follow.

Mariai caught up with her. "You know, I've been thinking, you are planning on having us stay in that place where Logan had his experiment right?" Clara nodded. "There is another place we could stay near there. It's a little farther, but once we have some other mode of transportation it should be okay. I'm pretty sure it's been abandoned for a while..."

"No, the lab has been abandoned for at least as long, if not longer."

"It's still safer there Claire. After all those traps you and I set around there, no one could get in there without us knowing about it."

"Yeah, no one except Jason..." Clara reminded, then regretted it afterwards.

"He would still have less trouble getting into the lab."

"Where are you guys talking about?" John asked.

"My old place...where I used to live with Stryker and Jason," Clara informed, still glaring at Mariai for bringing it up.

"What kind of traps did you put up?" John asked, excitedly, completely oblivious to the mood Clara was in.

"Plenty..." Clara answered simply.

"I want to see your old place," John finally told them.

Mariai winced, waiting for Clara to blow up at her. Logan though, stepped in between the two ladys. "With four of us and what ever little booby traps you have up, I think it would be a safe bet," he told her calmly, sincerly.

Clara looked between them all, outraged that they had all taken sides against her. "Fine..." she growled, turning and walking at a faster pace. The others all sighed with relief, and then had to struggle to keep up.

* * *

"Nope, you haven't slept, you need rest, I'll drive." Logan pushed Clara away from the driver's door of the truck. Mariai and John were already in the back, and Clara didn't like to ride in the passenger's seat.

"I'll sleep when we get to the house, I'm driving," she pushed him back, to little avail.

"Either you get in the other door, or we will leave you here." He hopped into the car and started the engine before looking back at Clara.

Clara stubbornly crossed her arms across her chest, not having even taken a step. When it was clear Logan wasn't going to give in, Clara jumped into the air, changing into a bird and flying ahead. Logan rolled his eyes, but followed after her, while Mariai hopped into the front seat.

"She's gonna be...really angry when we get there, just so you two know," Mariai warned. The boy's nodded, already mentally preparing themselves.

Finally then engine stopped and Logan looked up to where Clara was leaning on the porch railing. He looked up at the old house, which was now beaten down with abandonment. There was a wrap around porch, which he assumed had been painted a beautiful white, and an old, rotted porch swing where he imagined him and Clara would have spent most of their time while at her house.

"Come on," Mariai told the boys, hopping out and walking up to Clara. "You remember where all the traps are right?"

"Yes," Clara snapped quietly, hopping up onto the railing before grabbing the gutter and pulling herself up onto the roof of the first floor. "Wait here, I'll let you in, just a second." Stepping carefully she made her way to a window, opening it carefully, and then stepping inside.

* * *

She stared at the room, her room. The bed with it's dusty, plain white sheet draped over the sides. The wall that she had painted herself, just random pictures or words that she had been thinking at the time. Her beautiful cherry dresser, and her gorgeous walnut desk. She remembered everything that had happened in there, every single thing.

_"Clara, you open this door or you are in big trouble!" her dad yelled from outside her door. Clara didn't answer, she tied her hair up with a ribbon to keep it out of her face as she went to the window and began to push it open, preparing to jump. "I can hear the window opening, you'd better not be leaving to go to him. I told you to sit in your room." The window opened farther._

_Clara was nearly outside now when she felt a strong grip on her arm, pulling her back into the room. "Hey!" she yelled angrily. "Let me go!"_

_"I told you to stay here. You've shown me I can't do that...pity, I guess Jason will just have to keep you company." Clara looked up as Jason entered, it was long before he had needed the wheel chair, and he glided into the room, sitting down on top of Clara's desk._

_Clara was still rubbing her arm where her dad had grabbed her, knowing it was going to bruise. "You kids play nice now," her dad told them, leaving and shutting the door behind him._

_"Jason...Jason listen to me. Please don't do this. Please stay out of my head and leave me alone, please? I'll stay, I promise." Clara begged, looking up at her brother pleadingly._

_Jason looked down at her. "I'm sorry Claire, I would hate to disappoint father," he grinned maliciously, then everything in Clara's vision vanished._

* * *

Clara shook her head, clearing it of memorys as she went downstairs, making sure to jump over several of the steps that she knew were booby trapped. Mariai was already at the bottom of the steps, not needing to worry about walls, doors or any sorts of traps because of her powers. Clara walked past her and slowly opened the door, trying not to triger anything before letting the guys in.

"Took long enough," John mumbled, then flinched as Clara's gaze turned on him.

"Watch the third and fifth steps, there's several trip wires, so watch out for those. Don't open any of the doors leading outside, and definetly none of the windows," Clara ordered them. "John, go in there, pick up the phone and call the professor. Tell him they can come pick us up at anytime."

John did as she told him, and soon they could hear him having a conversation with somebody. When he came back he informed them, "Scott said he'd come get us, they're having a few problems with the jet though, so it might take another day or so."

"Great," Clara mumbled. "I doubt we have any food here that's still edible. I'll go pick some up." She turned to leave, but before she could close the door again Logan slipped out behind her.

"I'll go with ya," he told her, keeping his voice friendly so she didn't snap.

"Okay...but I'm driving," she already hopped into the driver's seat before he could protest. As soon as he was in and buckled, she drove off quickly.

* * *

"Clara, just a minute," Logan told her before she could start to open the door when they returned. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him as he sat on the porch swing, pulling her onto his lap, holding her close to him. He leaned down and wispered his words softly, "We're only here for a few days at most sweetie. I know you hate it anyway," he put in quickly as she was about to say something. Clara buried her face into his shoulder, utterly defeated for words. "Personally, I'm glad we aren't at that lab you were talking about. Now that I actually remember what happened, I don't think I'd be able to bear it there," he told her keeping his voice low.

Clara shivered as the scene played before her eyes again, forcing her to shudder, and Logan to hold her tighter. "I don't like it here Logan. At all, I really hate it here."

"I know," was all he could think to say as he rested his cheek on her head, letting her stay there as long as she wanted to.

Finally she pulled her head away and walked over to the door without a word, not knowing exactly what to say. Now that it wasn't locked, she didn't need to jump on the roof to go inside, and then simply just let them in. "Yay, food!" Mariai cheered, running foreward and grabbing the bags from Clara.

"Careful with the stove, I don't think it works right. Could start a fire or something..." Clara warned, John looked up at her hopefully. "Let John come cook with ya, at least he'll be able to keep it from burning down the house...I hope," she eyed the boy warily.

"I won't let a single wall burn down," then followed after Mariai before Clara could correct his answer.


	16. Frights

**Chapter 15: Frights**

"Damn it!" Clara yelled, slamming the phone back onto the receiver. Logan and Mariai both looked up at her curiously. "They still don't know how to fix the plane."

"How can they not know? They built the damn thing," Logan stated annoyingly.

Clara sighed, sitting down and helping herself to a pancake. "It would have been nice if SOMEBODY HADN'T BURNT DOWN THE STOVE!" Clara yelled to the other room where John was watching tv.

"I had nothing to do with the fire starting, I merely fed the flames slightly. It would have burned down without me."

"Not before we would have stopped it," Clara hissed, pouring more batter on the griddle that she had went out and gotten.

"Fires are cool..." John stated, coming in and snatching the rest of her breakfast, getting a glare from both Clara and Logan.

"I agree!" Mariai said quickly, ruffling the youngster's hair quickly.

"With what?" Clara asked. "You think fires are cool too?"

Mariai nodded excitedly. "Absolutely!"

Clara rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the table before walking out, hopping over a trip wire in the doorway and went upstairs to her room.

"Look what you two do..." Logan sighed before getting up and following her. He stopped outside her door and knocked lightly. "Clara?"

"Come on in Logan," she told him. He opened the door slowly and saw her lying on her bed, playing with the wrinkles in the sheets.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sitting in the chair by her desk.

"I'm fine," she told him, though her face was in the pillow so the words were harder to decipher.

"It's just a stove," he told her, walking over and laying on the bed next to her on his back.

"It's not the stove, I'm just bored out of my mind..." she told him with a sigh.

"Eh, well...we could play cards or go for a walk or something," he told her.

"I'm not going for a walk," she stated.

"And why not?" he asked, just as a large round of thunder shook the house.

"That's why not," she told him.

"Cards then?"

"Sure, here let me find some cards..." she went searching through her desk and her hand rubbed against some old letters that she had once forgotten. She smiled as she pulled them out and sat in the chair, reading through them.

"What are those?" Logan asked, walking up behind her to look at them, then saw his signature at the bottom of them. "When are they from? They look ancient."

"You were in jail for doing drugs, and you wrote me letters everyday because my father would not allow me to come and see you," Clara told him.

"I wouldn't think I'd want you to come and see me sitting in a cell anyway," he told her, laying his arms over her shoulders.

"You didn't, but I missed you and I still wanted to come. So you sent me letters everyday."

Logan looked at the top letter she was holding and started reading it, the memory flowing through him.

_A man's head smashed into the bars, blood spewed everywhere, "Would you two shut up?!" Logan snarled from his bed where he was trying to sleep._

_"What are you gonna do? Go crying to your girlfriend again?" they asked, picking up the paper and pen that laid on the ground. "What'cha gonna write this time? You wouldn't believe it, these two men started picking on me again. This place is full of meany-faces, come and get me," the two laughed, ripping the papter in two._

_"Hey!" he was up in a flash, the other man's throat in his hand. "You are never to touch my stuff again, do you understand me?" he growled._

_"F-f-fine..." the other man managed to get out as he started turning blue._

_Logan dropped him and turned to punch the other guy who was trying to sneak up on him, sending him sprawling easily. "Now if you two would keep it down," he pulled the two pieces of paper up and sat on his bed, writing again. He told her about how it wasn't all that bad, and that he was only in for a few months, and that he loved her, he wrote that he loved her a lot._

Logan looked at the page and the pieces of tape holding the two halves together. "I knew you were lying about how it was there, but I still liked reading them. I read them whenever you were gone," Clara told him as she leaned her head back to look at him.

"How many were there?" He kissed her lightly.

"One everyday you were in there. My dad found a few of my stashes and threw them out, so I only had these," she held them up and fanned them out. There were only about ten there.

"Clara! Telephone!" Mariai shouted up. Her tone made Clara rush out, ignoring the steps all together and just jumped off the banister and landed on the balls of her feet.

"Who is it?" Clara asked, taking the phone and waiting for an answer. Mariai shrugged but stayed around to listen. Logan came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he watched her face. "Hello?"

"Remember me?" The voice was dark and snarling.

Clara hissed angrily into the phone. Logan, who's sensitive hearing had picked up on the voice, snarled too. "What do you want?"

"What are you doing home? You aren't trying to hide from us now are you?"

"We were just leaving," Clara snarled into the mouthpiece. "Scott's on his way to pick us up right now."

"Liar..."

"Why would I lie? You don't frighten me."

"I know you are lying."

"..." Clara thought about that, her eyes scanning the outside windows as the rain pounded into them. "And how would you know?"

"Because I can see you..." he laughed as Clara looked outside again and lightning flooded the yard for a half a second. Out beside the line of trees, waving, was the ghastly outline of the animalistic man.

"Stay away from us..." she hissed into the phone as the outside was no longer lit up.

Logan, who had followed her gaze, growled into the phone, "I told you if you ever came near my girl again, I'd kill ya. I meant it..."

He laughed, and then the phone went dead, as did everything electrical in the house.

"Hey! I was watching something!" John called from the living room. The other three didn't move as darkness consumed them.


	17. Guns and Bombs

**Chapter 16: Guns and Bombs**

Clara took the flashlights out of the cupboard, having made the two boys stay in the hallway so they didn't trip over anything. She handed one over to Mariai and turned her own on. "Is the power outage from the storm, or do you think they did it?"

"It doesn't matter, it's out either way," Mariai told her fighting with the flashlight to stay on. "Do you have more batteries just in case?"

"No, sorry. That's all I got. Unless you want to go out there and get some from the store," she told her. "Then go ahead, be my guest."

Mariai glared at her, but since the light wasn't shining on her, Clara didn't see it. They made their way back to the boys. "Alright...cell phones, anyone got one?"

"Mine died last night," John told her, Logan and Mariai added in a "No."

"Okay then. Let me think a moment," Clara walked into the living room and sat down on the couch to think.

"He's a freaking stalker," Logan mumbled, sitting down next to her.

"Yup, but he won't chase me off this time..."

"He's kind of an idiot. He knows we're all here," John stated, sitting down on the floor, his lighter open and a ball of flame in his hand for light.

Clara shook her head, "Yeah, he's probably got more friends out there. He wouldn't attack us himself, especially not with a phone call first."

Logan leaned back and laid on the couch, putting his legs behind Clara's back. "Who else do you think he's got?"

"Magneto, Yuriko and Mystique are all dead, so they're out of the question. Magneto had a million and one followers though. Either they're all, or at least most of them, are working for Stryker, or they want revenge for Magneto's death. Whichever one, we're temporarily screwed."

"I could try to run for a phone. They'll have a hard time catching me..." Mariai told her.

Clara winced. "I don't want any of us having to go out there, let alone by themselves."

"It's not like they can just grab and stab me. It's probably the easiest bet."

"Nah, those phones are probably out due to the storm too."

"Kiba and Cheza should be almost here by now, if they aren't out there already..." Mariai said, a little worry heard in her voice now.

"They'll be fine, they're big and tough, hopefully they'll be able to help us."

"Maybe Xavier's keeping an eye on us through Cerebro. If so he knows the other people are here, and are probably trying to hurry," John told them.

Clara thought about it, "Probably...but how long would it take them to get here...without the jet?"

"Some a lot quicker than others," Logan told her. "But they wouldn't split up."

Clara put her head in her hands, covering her eyes as she tried to twist an idea into her mind. Logan rearranged himself so he was still lying on the couch, but his chest was behind her now, and she leaned back into him with a sigh. "I can still try for the phone," Mariai suggested.

"Nah, we'll need you here. If you leave, they'll attack us for sure."

"Oh, yeah..." Mariai sat on the ground in front of her, then looked up at her excitedly. "If you've still got more of the stuff...we could set up a few more little tricks for them to play with," her smile broadened when Clara's eyes opened and she looked down at her.

"I think we do have some stuff left over..." she grinned. "I say we just rain explosions down on them."

"What about my wolves?"

"They're smarter than that aren't they? They see one explosion and they'll get out of there won't they?"

"What if they get hit the first time."

"It's raining, they'll be put out."

"But won't the other people be put out too?"

Clara thought about it, "Ugh...yes..." she was getting annoyed now, there was always something keeping them from the problem. "Damn storm."

Logan looked up at her. "We could run for the truck and drive out of here...after making bombs or whatever you were thinking of making. It would bring us closer to Xavier and the gang."

"They'd attack us as soon as the engine started up."

"We could put Mariai in back with a shot gun, or something," Logan grinned, Clara glared at him. "Come on, you never had a gun? I never brought one over, or gave one to you or anything?"

Clara sighed, thinking about it. "There used to be a shot gun upstairs. I don't know if it's still there. Can you shoot from the flatbed of my truck?" She asked her friend.

Mariai glared at her. "How many bullets do I get?"

"As many as we have," Clara told her. "Stryker hasn't been here for a while, I doubt he ever actually used the gun, but he loved to stockpile on everything. So you might get quite a few."

Mariai cheered. "Guns and bombs! Sweet!"

Clara laughed, though the humor was completely stripped from it. "Alright, upstairs in his old room, under the bed is where it was last. The ammunition is probably in a huge box in his closet, I'll get the other stuff."

Mariai was off and running through the walls and up the stairs before Clara had finished. "She...kind of scares me," John told Clara.

"You aren't the only one kid. You two stay here, we'll be busy in the kitchen."

"Can I help with the bombs?!" John asked, not seeing the glare Clara was giving him.

"I don't trust you with anything that involves explosions."

"God, we're gonna have a full out war out just pulling out of the driveway," Logan put in, smacking the kid in the back of the head.

"That's the plan. Now stay here, please. Ignore any noise we make, okay?" Clara ran out, hopping over several trip wires.


	18. Final Battles

**Chapter 17: Final Battles**

They were all made, and Clara had the bombs all in a box under her arms. "Keys," she told Logan, holding her hand out for them.

Logan was gonna argue, but handed them over anyway. He pulled her to him and crashed his lips against her's, "Love ya Claire," he told her softly, kissing her forehead before sprinting out the door, quickly followed by the others.

Clara hopped up into the drivers seat, starting the engine as Logan jumped in beside her, making John squeeze between the two front seats to get to the back. Mariai jumped onto the wet flat bed, loading the gun up. They weren't out of the driveway before the sound of the gun first fired, a quick yell coming from the trees as Clara sped down the street. "Logan take these, when you get a shot at them, have John light it, and then throw it, okay?"

Logan nodded, John added on, "This is gonna be so cool."

"Logan..." she warned, flitting her eyes over to the side. John opened his lighter and lit the first bomb before Logan threw it outside. It hardly hit the ground when flames burst up into the ranks of on coming mutants. "Nice shot..."

"I know," he said smugly, letting John light another one as Mariai let the bullets fly.

They were to the end of the road. Clara ignored the stop light and blasted through it, her windsheild wipers flying across the windows in an attempt to see anything. Mariai let out another triumphant cheer as she hit another one. John laughed at another explosion. "Stop it," Clara told him quickly.

"Stop what?" John asked.

"It isn't funny..."

"No...but it's fun..." Clara rolled her eyes and kept racing for the border.

Logan froze quickly, taking another sniff. "Clara...watch it!" he yelled as a tree pelted the ground in front of them. Clara slammed on the breaks but had already been going too fast. The truck squeezed together, Clara looked up to see Mariai go flying.

Clara turned and followed Logan's gaze, going pale as she saw him in the trees, grinning. Sabretooth.

"Can you get out?" Logan asked through clenched teeth. Clara nodded, turning into a wolf and leaping out the window. "John?"

"No...I'm stuck..."

Logan growled low in his throat, but Clara jumped back in. "I got John..."

Logan nodded, kicking the door open easily and walking within about ten yards of the hairy creature in front of him. "You've got ten seconds to turn and--"

Sabretooth roared and jumped, biting into Logan's shoulder, quickly dodging out of the way of the blades from Logan's hands.

"Logan!" Clara started forward for a moment, but he healed and punched at the larger mutant, stabbing him in the side.

Clara wanted to help, but needed to find Mariai. "Come on John," Clara told him, grabbing him and pulling him along after her.

"Mariai...hey, you okay?" Clara ran to her, finding her lying on the ground laughing on the opposite side of a tree. "What's so funny?"

"That...was...awesome! Did you see that? I flew like a hundred feet, almost hit my head, and then poof...I'm on the other side of it with my face in the dirt. Ha!"

Clara smacked her forehead. "Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine," she told her, "though I did lose the gun..."

Clara closed her eyes and sighed. "Where'd you drop it?"

"Right here," Clara turned as she heard a shot. She looked down and saw Mariai at her feet, a stun bullet in her neck. Clara looked back at him, hands raised, perfectly still.

"Hi Stryker..."

* * *

Logan's lip was bloodied, though healing. His opponent had just as many wounds, but he didn't seem to be slowing down either. "She sure is a sexy little demon. Shame when you don't get to see her. I can't wait to get her all to myself," Sabretooth laughed.

Logan snarled, throwing another punch, missing him and stabbing the trunk of a tree. He turned and slashed with the other arm, sending great tufts of hair and spurts of blood to his feet. Soon enough he had his other arm free, but jumped and stared when he heard a gun shot. He saw Mariai lying on the ground, then saw Stryker take another shot with a stunning gun at John. Then saw him with his old shot gun in his other hand, the barrel staring right at the middle of Clara's forehead.

His head was immediatly smashed into the tree repeatedly. Turning he made a final stab at Sabretooth, hitting him square in the chest. He let out one last breath before falling foreward onto Logan. Logan pushed him away and stared back at where Clara was...had been just a moment before, to see a...what was that...a wolverine snarling and ripping at the man who had been holding the gun, though you couldn't truly call it a man now...not without his skin, and everything else intact.

"Clara!" Logan called, running for her.

She turned and snapped onto his leg when he got close to her, not knowing who it was. "Oh, Logan...I'm sorry.." she turned back and helped catch him slightly and help him to the ground. "Sorry...I thought you were someone else trying to get us...sorry..." she said, feeling really bad now.

"Don't worry about it darlin'. It doesn't hurt that bad now," she looked down and saw his wound had healed already, though his pants were caked in blood. "That's not all from you," he told her as he saw his expression. "Most of it's not from you," he added, motioning over to the dead mutant.

Clara shivered, "He scared me...ugh...nasty evil little--"

Logan pulled her down and kissed her fiercely, interupting her. "He doesn't matter anymore, he's dead, and I'm here. You're safe now baby."

Clara smiled, kissing his forehead gently. "I love you Logan."

"I love you too Claire. Now let's get these two out of the rain shall we? Though we're gonna need another car..."

"Oh, yeah...hmm..." she didn't really know where they were at the moment. "Umm...here, we'll carry them a ways, I _think_ there's a place to stay around here somewhere..."

"It's back that way actually," Logan told her, motioning the other way. "I can smell food..."

Clara laughed as she picked Mariai up, Logan took John, and then Clara followed him as he led them away.


	19. Finale

**Chapter 18: Finale**

"Where the hell are we?" Logan's nose wrinkled as they stepped into the motel. Every where there was mold sliding down the walls, the smell nearly made him sick.

"The closest motel we could find...put John on the bed over there," she motioned.

Logan nodded, throwing John down from his previous spot over Logan's shoulder. Clara set Mariai on the other bed, tending to the puncture wounds from the stun gun in her neck before doing so for John.

"Where the hell are we?" Logan asked again. He had tried to get water, but it came out in a brown spray and he quickly turned it off.

"Would you stop it?" Clara asked. "Here, will you help me?" She rolled up her pant leg to where the bandage covered the wound from Deathstrike a few days before. "I think it opened again while we were walking."

"Oh shit..." he ripped the bandage with his claws, ignoring Clara's flinch at their appearance. "Yeah, it's bleeding pretty bad."

Clara could tell he was faking the calmness for his face had paled slightly. "A fresh bandage would be nice...or if they have a first aid kit maybe we could find something else."

He nodded, "Right..." he ran to the front desk, asking for one. "They had one...I don't know how much's in it..." he put it down for her to look through it.

"Ahha, rubbing alcohol. Here, I can't do it, I'll chicken out," she handed the bottle to him.

He swallowed, hating the thought of it, but poured it over her leg. Clara yelped but didn't pull away. "Here..."

He took the bandage and wrapped it around her leg tightly. "There...Are you gonna be okay?" he asked sweetly, looking back up at her.

She nodded, "I'll be fine hon." She leaned down and kissed him quickly. "Can you call Scott and tell him where we are?"

"Uh...yeah," Logan kissed her cheek gently before finding a phone.

As he talked Clara went to Mariai, feeling her forehead to make sure she wasn't going to get sick. "See, he's not so bad," she said quietly, startling Clara.

"I'm the one who told you," Clara nearly hissed back, looking at Logan to see if he was listening.

"Psh, fine. Whatever. I'm tired, night," she said quickly, scooting up the bed and under the covers.

"Scoot over," Clara told her, laying down next to her. She really was tired. She was out even before Logan turned around.

"What the..." Logan sighed. Scott said they wouldn't be there until morning, and now both beds were taken. There was no way he'd be sharing with fire boy. "Fine..." he snatched a few extra blankets from the front desk and an extra pillow and laid on the floor.

* * *

_Logan entered his english class half an hour late, as usual._

_"Logan, where were you?" asked the horse voiced, long-nosed teacher Mr. Williamson._

_"Does it matter? I'm here now, aren't I?" Logan sneered._

_"It's the first day of the semester, Logan."_

_Logan gave a loud yawn._

_"Fine, sit there by Miss Stryker," he pointed to a table with an empty seat._

_"Whatever..." he sat down, not even bothering to look at the girl next to him._

_"We were on page twelve," Mr. Williamson's eyes narrowed at the boy._

_"Whatever..." Logan flipped the book open, noticing how the girl next to him fidgeted. "I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" he asked quietly, completely sarcastic._

_She ran her hand through her long, brunette hair, holding it back to let her ocean blue eyes bore into him. "Don't talk to me."_

_Logan would have responded with a sharp retort that probably would have gotten him at least a detention, if not several, but he couldn't. Whatever it was in those eyes, he couldn't find his voice to argue. "Fine..."_

_The girl, this Miss Stryker, didn't like him. That much he could tell. But why? She didn't look like much of a teacher's pet type, so the fact he was a jerk shouldn't bother her so bad, she had shown she wasn't much of a saint either._

_"Stop looking at me," she hissed, writing in a notebook, not even looking up at him._

_"What's your name?"_

_"None of your buisness."_

_"You know mine."_

_"The teacher said it, I never asked for it," she glared at him for a second before turning back to her writing._

_"What are you writing?" he asked, trying to peek over her arm._

_She grabbed the paper, tore it out, and crumpled it up before he could see any of it. "None of your buisness."_

_She hated him! But why? Had he really done anything to her. He thought back to previous nights when he'd been either drunk or high. It was possible, but he would think that those eyes would have stayed with him. "Do I know you?"_

_"No," she answered, starting something on a new piece of paper._

_"...Are you positive?"_

_"Absolutely," she answered. "I never would have spent time with you, or speak to you, even if I had a chance."_

_"I've never come up and talked to you or anything? You look like somebody I would-"_

_"Don't. Start." She hissed, "I don't need some son of a bitch staring me up."_

_Nope, definetly not a saint. "Fine..."_

_As soon as the bell rang she was up and heading for the door. "Wait!" Logan called, racing after her. To his own surprise, she stopped and waited. He hadn't expected that, and now he couldn't think of anything to say to it._

_She stood there waiting for him to say something, her eyebrows raising as she fidgeted between feet, wanting to leave._

_"Um, what class do you have next?" he asked, then finally remembering his mistake, flinched._

_"School's over..." she rolled her eyes and started off again._

_"No! Wait!" he ran after her, grabbing her arm and turning her around. "Where're you going anyway?"_

_"I've got a boyfriend," she told him, trying to step around him. "And I'm going to meet him, thank you very much." She gave him a shove, moving around him finally._

_Again he grabbed her, pinning her to the lockers with a hand on either side of her head. "I don't know if I believe you..."_

_"Really? Cause he's coming down the hall now," she motioned with her eyes._

_He turned his head to look, seeing a group of boys heading their way, one with a death glare ready for him. "Your boyfriend seems to think he's pretty tough."_

_"He is...now if you would please-"_

_"Hey!" suddenly Logan felt a hand at the back of his shirt, yanking him back. "That's my girl you bastard."_

_"You're girl? I don't see your name on her anywhere," Logan hissed, pushing him away and readjusting his shirt over his shoulders._

_"Michael," Clara ran to him, stepping in between the two boys. "Let's just go, okay? We were gonna go see that movie right?"_

_"Clara...just let me talk to him for a minute, then we can go."_

_"Michael," Clara stepped in front of him again as he tried to get around her._

_Clara...so her name was Clara...at the moment, that was the only thing running through his head: Clara._

_"Fine, let's go..." he wrapped his arm over her shoulders possesively, turning to go._

_"He's cheating on you," Logan said quietly, so quietly none of the other's picked it up, but Clara had, to his surprise._

_"What?"_

_"Your 'boyfriend', Michael, he's cheating on you," Logan waited a moment, then raised his gaze to meet her's._

_"And what makes you think I cheated on her?" Michael snarled, but that alone was enough evidence. Instead of a straight out denial or apology, he wanted to know what evidence lay on the table._

_"I can smell it on you," Logan's gaze lingered on the girl before slowly sweeping over to the man with his arm still around her shoulders. "It wasn't too long ago by the scent of it."_

_Clara raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask, Michael spoke up again. "You son of a bitch," he threw a punch at his accusor, earning a gasp from Clara as Logan stumbled back, more in surprise than pain._

_"Michael!" Clara made to run for Logan when she saw the blood running from his lip._

_"Don't worry about it," Logan let out in a growl, wiping his lip once as he stood before getting awe stares as they watched it heal before there eyes. Logan wasn't sure what to do, up until now he had been able to hide it. Now this girl, whom didn't even give a damn for him, had forced it into showing. His gaze turned to her's angrily to find her face was the only one not in shock. Her eyes went from surprised to understanding as he watched her. "Clara..."_

_She watched him, her mouth pulling up into a smile. One hell of a smile, he couldn't help but add mentally. "You freak..." Michael let out. "Leave my girl alone, and give up on these nonsense accusations," he threatened, not making a move for him until his little gang had circled around him, leaving him no escape option._

_Logan didn't notice, his eyes were still connected with Clara's, everything else was a blur; that was until he felt something hard hit his leg and he was sent to the ground._

_"Stop it!" Clara yelled, running to stand in between him and Michael again, hoping that would stop the others. "Leave him alone," she growled._

_Logan heared something different in her voice. It wasn't the sweet ringing of bells he had first heard, but now a low growl. Not purely human, it sounded to animalistic to come from anyone's mouth, let alone her's._

_"Jes...Clara, get out of the way," he told her, but his face started turning red at the slip._

_"Jessica...is that what you were going to call me?"_

_"No...I don't know why I even thought that. I.."_

_"You thought it because you were with her right before coming here..." Logan growled._

_"Shut up, freak. You don't know what you're talking about."_

_Logan gave an in human snarl, raising the hair's on the back of Clara's neck as he stood, resting his hands on her shoulders to push her out of the way if he needed to. Tiny, bony like short claws worked their way out from between his knuckles. They were only a couple inches long, but just looking at them gave the pretend tough guy a fright. "Oh, I do to..."_

_Clara joined his snarl and Michael flinched as her pupils dilated suddenly._

_"What....what's going on here?"_

_"Leave Michael...now..." Clara's voice was thick and gravelly._

_"Fine bitch, you know, it's over between us," he told her as he started to back off, trying to save what was left of his pride with her._

_As he turned to leave he felt teeth sinking into his upper thigh and he yelled out in pain. He stared down at the black wolf who had his leg in a death grip. Yelling again, Clara heard other people coming, mostly teachers at this hour._

_Clara let him go, ignoring him as he fell to the ground. "Come on," Logan told her, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and almost throwing her ahead of him. The teachers were sure to know about him by the time they reached the screaming boy, and he had to get out of there as well._

_"This way," Clara said. He looked up to see her normal self running ahead of him again, shooting out a door before he could question it._

* * *

_They finally stopped once they reached the cornfields outside of town. Both were panting and Clara fell back onto the ground, sitting with her head against her knees. "Ohhhhhh no....no, no, no...dad's not gonna be happy about this...gonna have to go to another school...or maybe I won't go to a new school...that would be worse..." she was rocking herself back and forth, holding her knees._

_"Um...if you don't mind, can I talk to you now?"_

_Clara nodded. "Yeah. Sorry..."_

_"So...do you hate me?" he asked. It had been the only question rolling through his head the whole time they had ran. He completely missed anything she had said._

_"What? No..." she shook her head slightly. "He had warned me...this'll be all over the news. He's gonna kill me when he hears about this."_

_"Who?"_

_"My dad...he hates mutants," she answered simply._

_"Mutants?"_

_"Yeah...at least I assume that's why you can heal and have those...things," she ran her finger over her knuckles._

_"I didn't know there was a term for it...then again I didn't know there was another one..." his eyes darted up to her face._

_"One? No...many..." she corrected. "But my dad hates them...he likes to experiment on them. He hasn't done any on my brother and I...yet. I think he's going to try one on my brother here soon."_

_"Oh...so you don't hate me?"_

_"No...why?"_

_"You seemed to when I walked in and sat next to you today."_

_"You didn't like being there. I have to...well, had to, be there. It was my last choice of school before having to move to Canada or something. I've been kicked out of schools across the states, and had pretty much no where else to turn. I didn't want some guy with an attitude coming in and ruining it for me."_

_"Oh...you know..." he laid down on his side, propping himself up on his elbow in front of her. "Your boyfriend back there-"_

_"Ex-boyfriend," she corrected with a small grin._

_He saw the smile working up, and had to smile himself. "Okay, your ex-boyfriend back there, seemed to have more attitude in him than I did."_

_"I'm a poor judge of character," she shrugged._

_"Are you?"_

_"No. I've known he's been cheating on me for a while, I was waiting to get him back big later."_

_"Oh, sorry," he chuckled, and she joined in nervously. "So...where were you two gonna go anyway?"_

_"Oh, we were going to see a moive," she shrugged. "It's some whole horror, vampire people thing."_

_"Oh...we can still go...if you want?" he looked down at his fingernails as he spoke._

_"I think if we went, there would be people staring at us. Everyone from school probably already knows."_

_"Oh...okay..."_

_"But...if we don't move that is...maybe we can go when things die down a bit?" she asked, watching him._

_"Yeah...that'd be great..." he smiled down at his hands, watching them continue to shake. Why? He never got nervous. It didn't make sense. How could one have made him so shaky and nervous. Looking back up at her watching him, he just glimpsed into those eyes, and he had his answer._

* * *

"Logan..." before he could wake up he felt something soft and warm on his lips, and he grinned. He knew what they were before he opened his eyes.

"Morning Clara," he greeted.

"Morning. Now come on, Xavier and the others are here," she helped him up.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her as they walked. "Where are the other two?"

"They're already on the jet."

"Oh. Hey, did we ever go see that movie?"

"What movie?" Clara asked, confused.

"The one you were gonna to see with that one guy when we first met. What was his name? Matthew?"

"Michael, I do believe. How did you-"

"I remembered," he grinned down at her.

"No, we never went to see the movie," Clara's eyes lit up.

"Maybe we should do that when we get back to the school..." Logan stopped her to give her a rough kiss. They didn't pull away until Scott and Storm both yelled at them. "Yeah, yeah. Coming!" Logan called, before looking back down at Clara. "And that necklace..." he pointed to it still around her neck, she smiled hopefully, "Still looks as beautiful on you as it did then."

Clara smiled, hugging him tightly, setting her head against her chest. When she felt his chin on his head she finally spoke up, "I love you Logan."

"I love you too, but we have to go Clara." Clara nodded and he swooped her up, carrying her onto the plane.

"I hate planes..." Clara told him as he set her down in a chair and she started buckling herself in.

"So do I," Logan told her, chuckling. "Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to ask you too."

"What's that?"

"When we get back, I don't ever want to lose you again..." he traced her face where the scars were now perfectly visible, kissing down the center one with so much care Clara closed her eyes and was unable to find words. "Please tell me you feel the same..."

"Logan, I spent eight years trying to find you...I would never let us be seperated again, ever," she told him, raising an eyebrow at him, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"I don't have a ring yet, but..." he saw Clara's eyes sparkle as recogniztion hit her. "Would you marry me?"

"Yes!" she squealed, kissing him again, gaining the attention of several others on the plane...Professor Xavier just laughed.


End file.
